


The Wedding of Buddy Aurinko

by KikiJ



Series: Duke Rose's Wedding Date Service [2]
Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: (just in chapter 2 for the eye trauma thing), Anal Sex, Dirty Talk, Exhibitionism, Eye Trauma, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Getting Together, Idiots to lovers and back again, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Oral Sex, Other, Pegging, Public Sex, Smut, Stargazing, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, Wedding Date AU, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:46:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 43,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27201997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KikiJ/pseuds/KikiJ
Summary: Two years have passed since Juno meet “Duke Rose” aka “Elias Slate” aka Peter N.Juno had always assumed he’d never see the guy again, but, with Buddy Aurinko’s wedding to Vespa Ilkay approaching, he decides to reach out and see if Duke Rose’s Wedding and Event Date Services is still in business.It isn’t, of course, but Juno doesn’t need to know that. Peter Nureyev is all too eager to meet the detective again, and he jumps at the chance to accompany Juno Steel to Buddy’s 5-day Destination Wedding on Earth.Together they create Emery Valentine, Juno’s old-fame reignited, and embark on a fun and flirty trip filled with summer fun time and good friends. And perhaps, they stumble into genuine feelings for each other along the way.
Relationships: Buddy Aurinko/Vespa Ilkay, Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel
Series: Duke Rose's Wedding Date Service [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1980010
Comments: 68
Kudos: 110





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here we are with part 2 of the Duke Rose's Wedding Date Service series! I do recommend reading The Wedding of Mick Mercury first, as this story is a direct sequel to that. This work becomes Explicit as of Chapter 2!

When he received the message from that number, the one he could never bring himself to delete, Peter almost dropped his comms.

‘Hey Duke Rose, do you still have that wedding date service?’

And then,

‘It’s Juno Steel, btw.’

Of course, he wasn’t Peter at the moment, or even Duke Rose. He was Morrigan Vale, and he had just got off a call arranging a meeting with a buyer of some ornate crown he’d nicked on the last job he took- not that that was important, or interesting.

No, the message had his full attention.

Nearly two years had passed since Peter Nureyev had met Juno Steel. He still wore Juno’s watch from time to time, when he was feeling wistful. He wondered, now and then, what might have become of them if he hadn’t been called away by an alluring job he hadn’t been able to give up.

Perhaps now, Peter would get a chance to find out. He was still a dreamer, after all. 

So, Peter picked up his comms and lied, typing out, ‘Why yes I do. It’s been quite successful. Why do you ask, dear detective?’

‘I have another wedding to attend. Do you want to rekindle my brief relationship with Elias? Or create a new one tbh, the only one who will be at this event who knows me is Rita and, well, she knows about you.’

Peter bit his lip, but before he could reply, another of Juno’s texts popped up.

‘Buddy Aurinko is getting married.’

Peter’s eyebrows shot up. Juno Steel, Private Investigator, knew the infamous thief _Buddy Aurinko_? Well enough to be invited to her wedding?

Well, now Peter had to go. The thought crossed his mind that allowing Juno to slip out of his grasp may have been even more of a mistake than he’d thought.

Before he could even start to think of a response to _that_ , one more message was received by his comms,

‘It’s a destination wedding on Earth, so it will be like 5 days. If youre comfortable you can just stay in the suite Rita and I are sharing, and meals are included in that deal, so.’

Peter smiled and waited another moment to see if Juno was quite finished.

It appeared he was, so Peter typed out, ‘I will happily accompany you, Juno. Shall we meet for coffee to discuss details? When is the wedding?’

Peter waited a moment.

‘The wedding is in two months. I figured you might need a longer time given the scope of the event. We can meet for coffee closer to the date if you want.’

Peter paused again, just to make sure Juno wasn’t going to bombard him. When it seemed safe, he typed, ‘That sounds marvelous. I am not on Mars at present, but I can meet you in a few weeks. I will contact you closer to the date.’

‘Great. Thanks, Peter. See you soon.’

And that was that.

\--

Peter spent much of the next few weeks with his head in the clouds. Every moment he could, anyway. He still had jobs to do, of course, but each moment he could afford to think of Juno, he did.

After landing in Hyperion, Peter waited a couple days before contacting Juno for that coffee. Once the date was set, though, the anticipation was almost unbearable.

Peter glanced in a mirror in the front hall of the flat he was short-term renting in Hyperion. His hair was a bit longer, since he last saw Juno, but he was largely unchanged. He had coloured it, previously, but just recently dyed it back again. Physically, he looked similar to the Peter Juno had met. 

He shouldn’t have been surprised, how giddy this made him feel, but he took a pause anyway to reel himself in. Juno was, for all intents, a client. For now, anyway. 

Peter arrived first, as he often tried to do, and placed down a tea for himself and a cup of coffee for Juno. He had elected not to wear Juno’s watch. He wondered, idly, if Juno would be angry that he took it, once he finally gave it back.

The thought left Peter’s mind as he caught sight of Juno in the corner of his eye. Peter turned his head as Juno strode past him. Juno stood next to his chair, pausing to undo the buckle of the belt on his coat.

And oh, what a sight to behold. There were raindrops speckled on his coat, and he had a slight pout on his lips. It was impossible to miss the eyepatch covering one of Juno’s eyes.

He looked radiant.

Peter stood, thinking he might shake Juno’s hand professionally, as Juno put his coat on the back of the chair. Juno gave him a little smile and Peter thought he murmured “oh” before Juno stepped forward and opened his arms. Peter gladly accepted the hug, pulling Juno close to him for just a moment before they both stepped back.

“Long time, no see,” Juno said with a laugh. As if they were old friends.

“Indeed,” Peter said, sitting back down. Juno sat as well. And, because Juno had a mind-numbing effect on him, Peter said, “You appear to have lost an eye, Juno, since we last met.”

Juno snorted. “Ah, yeah. Thank you for the swift diagnosis, Doctor,” Juno teased, rolling the one eye Peter could see. “I’m _well aware_ I’m missing an eye, Peter. Y’know, it’s funny; it’s kind of hard to miss that, when it happens.”

“Well, yes,” Peter started, sheepish. “Of course,” he cleared his throat, “my apologies. And you don’t _have_ to tell me how it happened, though I am incredibly curious,” he leaned forward. Juno chuckled, again.

“It’s a long story,” Juno said, shaking his head with both a noise of amusement and a grimace. Peter didn’t think losing an eye could be even slightly a funny story, but, well, Juno tended to surprise him.

“Well, how about this,” Peter said, because he was hoping at least some of his curiosity may be sated, “how do you know _the_ Buddy Aurinko? She’s infamous,” Peter said, unable to keep the reverence out of his voice.

“Coincidentally, that is the very same long story,” Juno said, and Peter balked for a moment. “I _will_ tell you, promise, just… not here,” Juno glanced around.

“Right, of course,” Peter nodded. He stared at Juno, bemused. Juno smirked at him.

“You’re am admirer, of Buddy’s? I’m sure she’ll be pleased to hear that,” Juno said with humor in his voice. Juno folded his arms over the table and leaned forward.

“Of course, she’s _legendary_. When you told me it was _her_ wedding you were inviting me to, well, I couldn’t possibly refuse,” Peter said. No use lying about that, really.

“Awh, here I was thinking you just wanted to see me again,” Juno clicked his tongue. Peter blushed, despite himself. “I guess it makes sense that you would like her, though, given you’re a-“ Juno cut himself off.

Peter raised a brow, but was thankful for Juno not announcing to the whole café that he was criminal. Perhaps they should have picked a more private meeting place after all.

“By the way,” Juno then leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest and drumming his fingers on his arm. Peter had to work to focus on Juno’s words. “Did you get a good price, on that watch of mine? I didn’t think it was particularly valuable, more of a sentimental item, but… maybe you oversold it.”

Peter placed a hand on his chest and frowned. “Please, detective. You wound me,” Peter made his expression pained, but internally he was almost laughing. It was an interesting approach to confronting him about something he’d stolen. “I would never sell one of your belongings. I..,” he trailed off, thinking for just a moment. “I’m not sure why I felt compelled to _borrow_ it,” he lied, “but it was always my intention to give it back to you, the next time we met,” he ended with the truth.

“Oh,” Juno said, tilting his head. “Well. How kind of you, then,” Juno snarked, raising his brows, and Peter laughed lightly.

“I did not bring it today, but, I assure you, I’ll give it back to you before the wedding.”

“Right,” Juno said, then he shifted. “I guess we should talk business, huh?”

Peter had all but forgotten what the meeting was technically about. Juno was planning on paying him to attend the wedding of his idol. Peter reached into his bag and took out his digital notebook. “Yes, of course,” Peter said, smiling.

“Okay,” Juno straightened his back. He took a sip of the coffee Peter had bought for him. “This will have to look different than Mick’s wedding. There’s no way Buddy is gonna believe I met you only a few months ago and haven’t mentioned you at all,” Juno said, and Peter regarded him carefully. He was so terribly curious about the relationship between Buddy and Juno.

“Ah,” Peter said, nodding, as if that made sense. “Okay, what _would_ be believable?”

“I’m thinking, perhaps, you’re an old friend of mine?” Juno said. Peter looked back up at him.

He did his best to measure his voice, but, his words would betray him anyway. “Oh, so we are _not_ to act like a couple?”

“Well,” it was Juno’s turn to look sheepish. “I mean. We can play, like, old flames. Reconnecting, even if you aren’t using Elias for a name,” Juno said carefully. “If you’re comfortable with that, anyway,” he shrugged a moment later.

Peter nodded, “Yes, I think that works well.” He kept a professional air to his voice. He was fairly sure they both knew the bullshit they were spewing. He hoped, anyway, they were secretly on the same page.

“Good, good,” Juno said. “Um. What alias are you going to use?”

Peter tilted his head. He hadn’t thought of that, yet. Logically, even if nobody there would know him, he should not reuse an alias. He should pick something unrelated to anything he’d used with Juno Steel before.

On the other hand, he desperately didn’t want Juno to call him anything other than Peter, not when he was used to hearing it on his lips.

Besides, it would also be nice, if he had a chance to speak to Buddy Aurinko, to be going by Peter. As irresponsible as it would be. 

“I haven’t thought of one,” Peter said slowly. “I will come up with something by the next time we meet, I assure you.”

“Okay,” Juno nodded. “And, well, the whole sleeping arrangements thing- are you good with that? Rita and I are in a 2-bedroom suite, with a shared living space and kitchenette. I can take the couch in my bedroom and you can sleep on the bed, if you want,” Juno explained.

“That works well,” Peter said lightly. He highly doubted he and Juno would be sleeping in separate places for long, but, stranger things had happened.

“Okay. Oh! The dress code for the wedding is black and white only, with minor accents of red permitted,” Juno said, and Peter lifted a brow again. While having a bride in white wasn’t quite as popular as it was ages ago, it still came off as unusual the bride might dictate _everyone else_ wear white. Juno picked up on his confusion, “Buddy’s gown isn't white, though she’s refusing to tell anybody what it looks like.” Juno shook his head with a little smile.

“Interesting,” Peter hummed, a flash of envy running through him. Juno was so casual about his closeness with Buddy Aurinko. He wanted _so badly_ to know the story behind that. “Well, it will be easy to match, then,” he said.

“I’ve got a white dress with a black belt and a red buckle. I suppose you’ll need to see the exact shade of white to make sure you can match it?” Juno asked, voice teasing again.

“Naturally,” Peter said. He was not kidding.

“Well,” Juno said, then he shrugged his shoulder. “I suppose you could come to my place, for an evening? We could catch up, more _candidly_ ,” Juno said, “and I can show you what I’ll be wearing.”

“I would love that,” Peter said, his voice warm and still entirely serious. Juno smiled back at him.

“Good,” Juno nodded.

“So,” Peter hummed. He scribbled some things down on his notepad. “We are old friends. We had a… brief romantic connection, but a pressing job took me off planet. I see no reason to embellish that aspect of our story. Does that sound okay?” Peter asked.

“Sounds good to me,” Juno said.

“I’ve missed you,” Peter said truthfully. “We… ran into one another, here in Hyperion. Or did you reach out to me? Or, did I reach out to you, being the first time I returned to Mars?” He tapped his pen.

“Maybe… you reached out me, when you finally returned to Mars, just a few weeks ago. We’ve been grabbing dinner or coffee whenever we can,” Juno said. Peter grinned. It was nice to have Juno’s input.

“I like that,” Peter said. Wistfully, he wished that was the truth. The next best thing would be making it real to himself, though. “And you will invite me to the wedding a couple weeks before?”

“Yeah, that works,” Juno said.

“It’s a big step,” Peter mused, smirking. He glanced to see Juno shifting his gaze away. “How long were we friends for?”

“Hm. I mean, Buddy and I have known each other for less than a year, so it’s not as if it would be _that_ unthinkable. We could say five months, two years ago. But, we were close at the time,” Juno said.

Peter nodded. “So, replacing your relationship with Elias to make it a bit more platonic at the start, but ending up in romance, anyway?” Peter clarified, writing things down.

“Yeah, I think that sounds good. Like, we could have done similar things, getting dinner together, watching streams, but our relationship progression was slower,” Juno said, Peter nodded again. 

“That sounds good. And, at your place, you can explain to me some of the things I’d missed that you might want to tell an old friend,” Peter smiled up at him, eyes glinting. Juno chuckled.

“Yeah. I wonder how we met, this time. And what's your job?’ Juno asked. Peter hummed.

“That’s a good question. Elias ran a small art gallery here in Hyperion. But what would take me galivanting across the universe, while also remaining an un-notable individual?” he hummed, and thought.

Juno crossed his arms again, thinking. “Dark matters is _not_ a good idea,” he said, more to himself than anything.

“No. Though, perhaps I am involved in some sort of… investigating, and that’s how we met. A case of yours. However, I am privately employed rather than independently-operating, and my employer likes to keep me traveling,” Peter said. “I’d get to keep an air of mystery about me.”

Juno rolled his eye, snorting, “Wouldn’t want to miss out on the opportunity for dramatic flare.”

“No, I would not,” Peter replied. “I can workshop it. Perhaps that is my true story, but I come up with a more believable cover story because I know it sounds outlandish,” Peter said, and Juno shook his head.

“Okay, you’re going to hurt my brain,” Juno said, and Peter just grinned.

“Fret not, darling, I will have everything sorted. You needn’t worry about a thing,” Peter told him, and Juno smiled. Peter kept scribbling on his notepad, writing down some ideas. “Hmm. Just how interested do you think the other guests will be in your date? As well, is this a small affair?”

“Well,” Juno said. “Buddy claims she made it a destination wedding and strict dress code in order to discourage having _too_ many guests, but she also refused to pare down the list because she just has sooo many friends,” Juno pulled a face, and Peter laughed. “A _lot_ of people have RSVP’d, though.”

“I see,” Peter said. Then, a thought occurred to him. “Who is it, that Buddy is marrying, after all this time?”

“Oh,” Juno knit his brows, “Vespa Ilkay?”

Peter blinked, “Vespa is alive? I thought- did she not fall from a highscraper, almost a decade ago?”

“Right, well,” Juno said. “Yeah, she is alive, it turns out. Actually-“ Juno then pressed his lips together. “I’ll give you more detail on that back at my place.”

Peter shook his head. Clearly, he was missing quite a large chunk of this story. He was surprised he hadn’t gotten word of Vespa being alive. Of course, he idolized Buddy specifically, but part of what he loved so much about Buddy Aurinko was that she was part of _Buddy and Vespa_. “Okay. So, it’s a large event. You’re not standing in the wedding, are you?”

“No,” Juno said. “The only one really standing at the wedding is Jet.”

“ _Siquliak_?” Peter balked once more.

“Yeah, him,” Juno said. “He’s Buddy’s best friend.”

Peter shook his head. “Okay,” he said slowly. “Good to know,” he said. He was potentially going to meet not only Buddy Aurinko, but Jet Siquliak and Vespa Ilkay? Why did he _ever_ slip out on Juno?

“Yeah. Apparently, they’re all very infamous,” Juno said, and Peter watched him smirk with a careful eye.

“Yes,” Peter said, simply. He knew Juno was looking for something and he did not want to give it to him. Even so, Juno laughed.

“So, I definitely just became the least important part of this job, huh?” Juno said, and Peter regarded him with a frown.

“Juno, darling, it pains me to think you would really believe that you could ever be the least important thing to me,” Peter said softly. Then, he cleared his throat, “Of course my client is always my top priority. I am a professional after all.” 

Peter looked up to see Juno scoff at him, but he smiled, hoping his blow didn’t hit too hard. It was a joke, after all. Peter was realizing, in that moment, that he needed to figure out a way of preventing Juno from paying him money for this arrangement. But, he wasn’t willing to drop the ruse of their ‘business relationship’ yet.

“Right,” Juno snipped, and Peter just smirked at him. “Speaking of. I guess there are supposed to be forms I should sign?”

“Of course,” Peter said. “Since this is… a longer engagement than I am used to, I will have to revise the contract. It should still be similar, to last time. We can touch like couples, I’ll make sure to wait for a verbal or nonverbal sign before I kiss you, sex is not off the table but it isn’t an expectation,” Peter spoke with his hands, not missing Juno avoiding his gaze once he started talking of kissing and sex. “I’ll get the revised contract and consent to you in a couple days.”

“Okay,” Juno nodded. “Well, once I get that from you, we can pick a date for you to come over to my place. Also, Rita went ahead and booked you into our travel plans. I have no idea how she got us all seats together because that’s usually impossible, but, well, she’s a genius.”

“Oh, good,” Peter said. He always had a way of getting around, of course, but it was good to have that taken care of on his behalf for once.

“Well,” Juno said. “I guess that’s it.”

“For now,” Peter smiled, and Juno smiled back. Juno stood up, pulling his coat on. Peter sipped the last of his tea, which was far too cold by now.

“See you soon,” Juno said with a smirk, and Peter smiled and nodded a goodbye.

Juno walked out, and Peter sat behind for a few more minutes, looking down at his notes. He couldn’t make sense of them, though- not with his mind swimming with thoughts of Juno Steel yet again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Juno describes how he lost his eye in this chapter, so there's a warning for minor eye trauma!   
> also, this chapter is explicit, as are most of them from here on out!! I will update the tags for a bit more specificity RE: sex acts in the future.   
> Just a reminder, if you haven't read the first part of this series: I've written Juno as amab but having had surgery, so he has a vagina that is generally referred to with "cunt", and I've written Peter as amab and having a penis that is generally referred to with "cock".

It was another week or so before Juno invited Peter over to his apartment. The invite came with a warning that it was ‘really kind of a shithole’ and to ‘not expect much’. Peter assured Juno he wouldn’t care.

On the date they’d set, Peter showed up to Juno’s door with a nice bottle of whiskey in tow, and knocked on the door.

Juno answered the door in a white blouse with a tiny bit of frill, and a grey wool skirt that skimmed his knees. Peter took a second to look him up and down, smiling. “Hello,” he greeted.

“Hi,” Juno said, stepping back to allow Peter to walk in. Peter did so, glancing around the living space the door opened into.

It _was_ pretty dingy. As he’d said, Peter didn’t care. “I brought this for you,” he said, holding out the liquor as Juno locked the door behind him and turned around.

“Ooh,” Juno said, taking the offered bottle in one hand. Then, Juno reached for Peter and they hugged. Peter felt the bottle press into his shoulder. “I’ll get us some glasses. Um, you can sit, somewhere,” Juno gestured to the mismatched furniture in the living room, oriented towards a monitor against one of the walls.

“Will do,” Peter said, slipping off his dress shoes and hanging his jacket and bag on the hat rack next to Juno’s door. He walked over and settled on Juno’s couch, taking in the surroundings. The walls had scratches and ripped paint, and the lighting was not ideal. He wondered, idly, if Juno simply didn’t want to move, or if he couldn’t? Peter refused to believe Juno _liked_ the place.

He brushed the thought away as Juno sat next to him, holding out a glass of the whiskey. “Thank you,” Peter accepted it.

Juno clinked his glass and said, “Cheers.” Peter did as well, and they drank.

“So,” Peter said, shifting so he was facing Juno more fully on the couch. Juno put his glass down on the coffee table. It was surprisingly nice, compared to Juno’s other furniture. Peter set his glass down as well.

“So?” Juno said. It occurred to Peter that, aside from the motel room, this was the only time they’d been alone together _in private_.

“Well, I see no reason to be coy, Juno. I am simply dying to know,” Peter paused, “how did you met _Buddy Aurinko_?”

“Mmhmm,” Juno hummed, smiling. “Right,” he said. He lifted his cup back up and sipped the whiskey, then settled back on the couch, turning his body towards Peter as well. He held his cup against his knee, one hand on he back of the couch. “Okay, so. Like I said, it’s sort of a long story, but it doesn’t have to be _that_ long. It all started when I was on a case.”

“Naturally,” Peter nodded, and Juno smirked at him.

“I was tasked with finding something- it’s, like, not that important. It was some sort of valuable artifact, and I was contacted by the alleged owner to retrieve it.”

“Mhm,” Peter lifted his drink to his lips, watching Juno with a curious expression.

“Apparently, it was _highly_ coveted,” Juno explained. “I was on the trail for, like, a week or two? And I ended up in this warehouse with Rita directing me around via comms. I wasn’t the only one who had sussed it all out, though,” Juno said, adding some suspense to his voice.

Peter perked a brow, “No?”

Juno shook his head. “I was heading up to the spot that we figured the artifact was in, just a couple rooms off, when I realized there were not one, but _two_ other people there. Two women. One of them had brown hair, the other green,” Juno put his whiskey back down, and began talking with his hands. “We all had the same idea at once. Obviously, we were all looking for the same thing, why else would we be there? So, we tried to rush the door.”

Peter tilted his head, making a noise to indicate he understood.

“We managed to get into the door, but then the brown-haired lady shoved me into the green-haired lady, and tried to get over to the safe that was at the back of the room. The green-haired lady shoved me off of her and then _tackled_ the brown-haired lady, so I got up and tried to go over to the safe.”

“As you do,” Peter said, Juno smirked.

“But, they were fast. Before I knew it, they’d both pulled out knives and were pulling me back into their fight. I had a knife, too, but I am _much_ worse with a knife than they were,” Juno said. “Um. This is about to get, uh, gory. I’ll try to spare the details.”

Peter grimaced, but nodded. “Do go on.”

“So, we were basically shoving each other and brandishing knives, each of us trying to pit the other two against each other so _we_ could get away. At some point, though, all of that got turned around to me, and the green-haired woman fucking _stabbed_ me in the shoulder. Instinctively, I turned towards my shoulder, and the brown-haired woman, who was _trying_ to stab me in the throat… caught my eye instead.”

Peter continued to grimace, paling just a bit. “Grotesque.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. Green-hair took a pause and that other bitch ran to the safe,” Juno said, and Peter frowned.

“No,” he murmured.

“Yeah,” Juno said. “However, at that moment: three _more_ people rushed into the room. The woman with brown hair was stopped by Jet Siquliak and subdued by Buddy Aurinko. And Rita was screaming her head off.”

“Oh, my,” Peter blinked.

“Turns out, green-hair was none other than Vespa Ilkay, and Jet and Buddy had been trailing _her_ , so they were nearby. Luckily, Jet had medical supplies and Vespa is actually a skilled field medic, so they managed to patch me up pretty good, even with all the panic. Rita monitored the other lady, conked out on the floor as she was.”

“Wow,” Peter said.

“There wasn’t any saving my eye,” Juno said with a little shrug. “It’s… been a rough adjustment. Vespa felt pretty bad about it, even though she was the one to stab me in the shoulder, not the face. Oh, and, we did find out that the whole thing was a set up by some elaborate criminal who was using the artifact to lure people into following their dumb clues,” Juno shook his head. “Totally pointless bullshit,” he concluded.

“That is… quite the story,” Peter said. “I am sorry, to hear about your eye. I recall you saying you were quite proud of your sharpshooting ability.”

Juno perked a brow, “I guess I did mention that, huh? Yeah, that’s been one of the worst things, really.”

“And cybernetics are out of the question?” Peter asked lightly.

“I mean, by the time I save up for one, I’d could have used that time to learn to shoot one-eyed. And, well, Buddy has been helping me with re-learning to shoot, among, uh, other things,” Juno told him, with a firm nod. 

“Oh,” Peter said. “Well, it’s important to lean on your support network when you can,” Peter commented. Not that he knew what it was like to _have_ one of those.

“Yeah,” Juno said, smiling. “So, the rest is history. Buddy told me she was actually interested in my ‘skillset’ before we even met, which was… interesting, to hear,” Juno said. Then, he paused for a second, thinking, “She’s told me, many times, that she’s sad the circumstances of our meeting had to involve so much blood,” Juno mused. Peter made a little noise of morbid amusement. Juno laughed.

“Yes, that is unfortunate. She was interested in your skillset, you say?” Peter asked.

“Yeah,” Juno reached for his glass and drank again. “She’s had me look into some stuff for her, now and again. I won’t give too much detail on that, y’know, customer confidentiality, but… it’s been good. I mean, she, like any client, can be a pain sometimes,” Juno rolled his eye. Peter raised his brows, as if he disbelieved Buddy Aurinko could be anything other than perfection. “But, I really like working with Buddy. Jet is cool too.”

“That is incredibly impressive, Juno,” Peter said, sipping his whiskey. “I have, in fact, been a long time admirer of Buddy Aurinko. She’s truly an icon,” he said. Juno just laughed.

“Yeah, I didn’t really know anything about her, until we met,” Juno shrugged. Peter shook his head.

“Unimaginable,” he muttered. Juno chuckled again. “I don’t know what I’d give, to work with Buddy Aurinko.”

“I mean, only cost me an eye,” Juno said flippantly. Peter blinked at him, opening his mouth, probably to apologize. Juno cut him off, saying, “kidding!”

“Right,” Peter said. “Still, forgive me. I just mean to say… she’s an idol of mine,” he said lightly. Juno smiled warmly at him.

“That’s sweet. I’m sure she’ll love you,” he said, lifting his socked foot to tap Peter’s shin.

“My, I have been avoiding thinking of what that will be like. I have not yet _fully_ decided upon an alias,” Peter confessed. He finished his glass of whiskey and set it down.

“No?” Juno asked. Peter bit the inside of his lip for just a moment, then stopped himself.

“At the risk of sounding… dramatic,” Peter said slowly, “I am not keen on the idea of you calling me by another name, now that I’ve grown used to hearing you use my _real_ name. However, I do not think it would be wise to go by Peter,” he said.

Peter watched as Juno smiled. He might have been blushing, but it was hard to tell in the light. Peter smiled as well. “Ah,” Juno said. “Well… I can always keep calling you Peter when we’re alone,” Juno said softly.

Peter nodded. “I would like that,” he said. Peter stood, and went over to his bag. He pulled out his digital notebook and then sat back down.

While he was doing that, Juno took the chance to grab their glasses and refill their whiskey. A few moments later, they were both sitting on the couch again.

Peter glanced down at his notebook, scrolling through lists and lists of names. He ended up circling a few, then opening a new page to write them out. He hummed, and then put the notebook down.

“I will be Emery Valentine,” he said, and Juno perked a brow.

“Ooh,” Juno said, sipping his drink. “Still not as good as Peter,” Juno said, and Peter rolled his eyes, “but it’s fun.”

“Glad to hear you like it, darling,” Peter said, and Juno chuckled.

The atmosphere shifted just slightly, as Juno moved just a bit closer to Peter, taking another sip of his whiskey.

“What’s that, some sort of code?” Juno asked, leaned forward to get a better view of Peter’s notes. Peter held the notebook to his chest.

“Nosy,” he scoffed, and Juno laughed.

“You know I’m sitting right here,” Juno insisted, and Peter just huffed.

“I’ll have you know they’re just _doodles_ ,” Peter said stiffly, holding out his notebook in front of him again. He used his pen to scroll down the page.

“Ah,” Juno said. “Yes. Very. Modern,” he commented, and Peter laughed. Juno grimaced and Peter just smiled at him.

Peter clicked a button on the side of the notebook and the screen went dark. He stuck the magnetic pen to the side and looked at Juno. “Fret not, dear detective, I know my drawings aren’t quite as masterful as some of my _other_ artforms,” he said.

Juno laughed lightly, glancing Peter up and down. “Fair enough,” he said.

Peter wasn’t certain who started leaning in first, but, seconds later they were kissing. He brought his hand up to cup Juno’s face, and Juno scooted closer to him, a hand on his chest.

Juno swept his tongue into Peter’s mouth and Peter sighed at the feeling. Peter Nureyev had kissed many people, but none quite like Juno Steel. He heard Juno moan and his hand slid to Juno’s neck.

Peter felt Juno’s hand come to his hip. Juno broke the kiss so he could press closer to Peter, their bodies fully facing one another on the couch.

Juno’s eye flicked from Peter’s eyes to his lips, and they kissed another couple times.

“I,” Juno started as they pulled back again. “Wasn’t I supposed to, um.. show you my dress? It’s.. in my room,” Juno said. Peter bit back a smirk.

“Oh, yes, of course. We can’t forget that,” Peter said. Juno nodded, and then kissed Peter again. Peter happily kissed back, his hand coming to Juno’s hip to pull him even closer.

“Okay,” Juno said, some minutes later, slowly pulling away from Peter. Peter frowned at the loss, but Juno took his hand and stood, so Peter stood with him.

Peter was led down the hall into Juno’s bedroom. There were some clothes tossed around here and there, a small pile on the floor next to a basket with a bigger pile. On a chair, there was an open suitcase, partially packed. The closet door was ajar, and from it, there was a garment bag hanging.

“Don’t judge me,” Juno said, glancing around his room.

“Have you already begun packing?” Peter asked, his hands coming to Juno’s waist as Juno nudged a stray piece of clothing into the pile.

“Hm? Yeah,” Juno said, twisting his body a bit to look back at the suitcase. “Most of that is new, though. Rita and I just went shopping for ‘vacation clothes’. She said I can’t wear all black at the beach on earth,” Juno rolled his eye.

“Ah,” Peter said. “That is wise, you’d overheat. Your dress?” he asked, chin jutting towards the garment bag. Juno nodded.

Juno left Peter’s grasp and he unzipped the garment bag. Peter walked up to it to take a gander. It was a true white dress. Peter knew he had at least two or three shirts that would go just fine. He imagined Juno would look marvelous in it.

So, he said as much. “I bet it looks even better on you,” Peter said, and Juno laughed.

“Yeah. And even better yet on the floor?” Juno asked, perking a brow.

Peter placed a hand on his chest. “Goodness, no. Juno, the dress is white, it should never be placed on the floor,” he said, glancing around. He didn’t add _especially not here_ , though he wanted to.

Juno scoffed, but he was smiling, “Shoulda seen that coming.”

Peter’s hands came to Juno’s waist yet again, fingers skimming over the clasp of the skirt Juno was wearing. “Now _this_ skirt, which is much less precious and probably at least a bit hardier… I believe _it_ would look utterly enchanting on the floor.”

Juno laughed again, his hands coming up to Peter’s chest. “Ah, well, if you say so. You do strike me as a man who has an eye for décor.”

“I assure you, Juno, I do,” Peter said, as Juno’s fingers started to undo the buttons of his dress shirt.

“Tell me, then,” Juno said slowly as Peter deftly undid the clasp on the side of Juno’s skirt, “do you think this shirt would look _fantastic_ next to it?” Juno didn’t let him answer, saying, “I do.”

“Oh, I agree wholeheartedly,” Peter said, as Juno started to work on the buttons of his pants as well. “You’ve got quite an eye yourself.”

Juno laughed, as Peter pulled the fabric of his dress shirt up. At that point, they both took a step back so they could fully shed their clothing. They were both snickering as they did so, stepping out of their skirts and bottoms.

They reached for each other at the same time, Juno’s hands landing on Peter’s shoulder and Peter’s on Juno’s hips. They kissed, and Peter’s hands slid to Juno’s ass, pulling him closer. Juno made a noise against Peter’s lips.

They kissed for a few moments, until Juno pulled back and ran his hands down Peter’s arms, taking his wrists and walking them closer to the bed.

Peter went willingly, and they crawled onto Juno’s mostly made bed. Juno planted himself in the middle of it, and spread his legs for Peter to get between them.

Juno pulled Peter into another kiss, his hands trailing over Peter’s body. Peter kissed him eager, slipping his tongue into Juno’s mouth again. Juno deepened the kiss, panting against Peter’s mouth. Peter returned the kiss with enthusiasm and pressed his upper thigh between Juno’s leg.

With only a bit of encouragement, Juno rolled his hips up against Peter, moaning. Peter broke off their kiss, ducking his head to press his mouth to Juno’s neck.

With one hand, Juno twisted his fingers in Peter’s hair, pulling just a bit. He could feel heat building in his core with every roll of his hips and every kiss on his neck. 

When Peter was satisfied with the little pants and whines coming from Juno’s lips, he sat up, skimming a hand down Juno’s front and just over the top of his underwear. Juno was wearing black shorts with lace trim on the top. They were _very_ pretty- but like Juno’s other clothing, Peter thought the best place for them was on the floor.

Juno bit his lip. He had the same idea. Juno moved his hands to the band of his underwear and lifted his hips, sliding them down. Peter helped get them off his legs entirely and Juno left his knees bent, Peter sitting between them as he ran his hands up the inside of Juno’s thighs.

Peter glanced up, catching Juno’s eye. He smiled, and Juno pressed his lips together, staying silent as Peter avoided touching him where he knew Juno wanted. Peter watched Juno’s expression as he slowly moved his hand up, brushing the thatch of hair between Juno’s legs, and finally slipped a finger between Juno’s folds, touching gently.

Juno rewarded him with a moan, his eye fluttering closed for a moment. Peter moved the tip of his finger to Juno’s clit, touch light and highly skilled. Juno’s hands grasped the sheets.

“God, don’t tease, Peter,” Juno said, and Peter let out a little laugh.

“Of course not,” Peter said, but he continued his light touching for another few moments before stroking his fingers up and down and then sinking a finger inside Juno’s wet cunt.

Juno groaned and tilted his head back. He was a vision of beauty. Peter told him as much,

“You’re stunning, Juno,” Peter murmured, and Juno made a noise in the back of his throat.

“Harder,” Juno whined, and Peter chuckled again.

“As you wish,” Peter said, abiding by Juno’s request and thrusting his finger harder. Then, Peter slipped a second finger inside of him, moving his thumb to nudge Juno’s clit. “Better?” he asked a few moments later.

“Mh, yeah,” Juno responded, nodding his head jerkily. Peter smiled sincerely, then slowed down for just a moment so he could lean over Juno, shifting his weight, before resuming at the previous pace.

“You’re gorgeous,” Peter murmured, and Juno just whined in response.

“Peter,” Juno said, a moment or two later. “I want you to fuck me,” he said. Peter slowed down, but didn’t stop fingering him completely.

“Well, I am amenable to that,” Peter said, slowly taking his fingers from Juno’s cunt. Juno laughed and shot him a little look. Peter sat back, taking a moment to appreciate Juno’s body before Juno shifted and crawled to his bed table.

Before he knew it, a condom was being thrown at him. Peter reached out and caught it in a palm as Juno got back into place in front of him. Peter moved to the edge of the bed and stood for just a moment to pull his underwear off and put the condom on, and then got back between Juno’s legs.

Peter placed a hand under one of Juno's knees, finding a good position before taking his cock in his other hand. He slid his cock between the lips of Juno’s cunt a couple times, watching as Juno tilted his head back at the sensation.

“Peter,” Juno whined. Finally, Peter pushed his cock inside Juno, holding a breath for just a moment. Juno groaned, one hand reaching to run up Peter's chest.

Peter rocked into Juno slowly, gently, at first. It garnered what he could only assume was a positive reaction from Juno's breathy moans.

Still, he wasn't surprised when Juno hissed,

“Harder.”

Peter bit back a chuckle, pausing to steady himself before murmuring, “Of course, Juno.” As requested, he thrust his hips harder, and faster as well, feeling Juno push his hips up to increase the impact.

“Fuck,” Juno groaned, and Peter smiled at him for a moment, bending forward. Juno twisted his arms around Peter, and Peter slowed for one beat to move his hand from Juno's knee to the bed beside Juno's head, and then resumed the pace.

Juno caught Peter's lips with his own. They kissed sloppily, in between moans. Peter felt Juno’s nails in his back, which only spurred him on further.

Peter moved his head slowly to kiss over Juno's jaw and neck. “You feel so good,” Peter mumbled near Juno's ear.

“So do you,” Juno replied, and Peter smirked, kissing Juno right below the ear.

Peter sat back so he could slip his hand between their bodies, pressing a fingertip to Juno's clit as he thrust into him.

Juno’s breath caught before he came with loud moan. Peter slowed his hips, to a stop, until Juno used his legs to motion for him to move again.

Peter continued thrusting at a more languid pace until he, too, came. He pulled back from Juno a few moments later, shuffling to the edge of the bed and disposing of the condom in a conveniently placed waste basket.

He looked back at Juno, and then sat back down on the bed. Juno snuggled up to him seconds later, and Peter smiled.

“That was good,” Juno murmured, smiling against Peter’s skin, kissing him on the upper arm.

“Thank you for the rave review, Juno,” Peter quipped, and Juno laughed. Peter wound his arm around Juno’s shoulder and squeezed.

“Don’t be a dick,” Juno said with a groan. They were both laughing, now.

“Never, in my life, have I done such a thing,” Peter told Juno, faking a wounded look.

“Oh, of course, my mistake,” Juno said back. They laughed again. Then, Juno glanced from Peter’s eyes to his lips and back again. “Speaking of you being a dick,” he said.

Peter perked a brow, “Yes?” He wasn’t sure where Juno was going with this.

“If I ask you to stay the night, will you disappear on me again?” Juno asked, his voice a little softer than expected.

“Oh,” Peter said, his eyes widening just slightly. “I suppose I have been a dick, in the past, at least once,” Peter admitted, and Juno scoffed.

“At least, yeah,” Juno said. It wasn’t _entirely_ full of malice.

“I promise, if you ask me to stay tonight, I will stay,” Peter said. Juno nodded. “Of course, you’re under no obligation to ask me.”

“Weell,” Juno started, smiling a little. “If you stay, we co-“ At that moment, though, his comms started to go off. Juno blinked his eye and went to grab the device. “Uh, one second,” he said, and Peter nodded. “Hey, Rita-“

Peter could hear Rita’s _distinct_ voice yelling “MISTA STEEL!” on the other end and he saw Juno wincing.

It didn’t take long for Peter to catch on that _something_ was happening rather urgently. Juno looked over at him a couple of times, but mostly he stared off as he listened to Rita. Peter couldn’t quite make out her meandering story, but he picked up some things here and there.

“Okay, okay,” Juno was saying. “Calm down, Rita,” he added. He stood up, and started to pull on some clothes as he muttered under his breath and Rita rambled on.

Peter did his best to pretend he wasn’t trying to hear what Rita was saying. He gathered someone they had been working with was either in danger or putting someone else in danger. Peter started to slowly shift off the bed.

“One minute, Rita,” Juno said, and then pulled the comms away from his ear and looked at Peter with a sad little expression. “Hey, um. Could we get a rain check, on the you staying over thing? I swear I was gonna ask you to, but-“

“Don’t fret at all, Juno,” Peter said. He was already starting to pull on his clothes. 

“Yeah, it’s just- a work thing, sort of,” Juno stammered. “I know it’s late at night, but, I’m gonna need to go out and address this.”

“Not to worry,” Peter said, smiling. Juno smiled and then lifted the comms back up to his ear.

They both finished dressing, and, once Juno was finally off the comms with Rita, Juno walked Peter to the door.

“Thank you, for having me over,” Peter said, brushing his fingers over Juno’s hair once. Juno smiled up at him.

“Thank you for coming over,” Juno replied, voice teasing. He leaned forward, and Peter kissed him on the lips. Peter held Juno’s face in one hand, and Juno snaked his arms around Peter’s waist. They hugged for a moment before parting.

“See you soon,” Peter winked, turning Juno’s doorknob to push open the door. Juno smiled.

“You too,” he said. Juno slowly shut the door as Peter walked away, feeling lighter. Even with the abrupt end to their evening, it was a nice time. He enjoyed Juno’s presence immensely. Perhaps more than he ought to, in fact.

No mind.


	3. Chapter 3

“Oh my god, it’s so _hot_ ,” was the first complaint out of Juno’s mouth as Peter swiped the card to let them into their lavish hotel room at the resort where Buddy Aurinko’s wedding would be held. 

“I can’t wait to go swimming!” Rita yelled as she bounded into the main part of the room.

The trip there had been blessedly uneventful. It still took quite a while to get to Earth, from Mars, but space travel had really improved since its invention hundreds of years ago.

During the trip, the three of them mostly just sat together, looked out the window at the views, chatted, and eventually did their own activities, such as reading or watching streams. 

And having arrived, they all shuffled into their space for the next five days, ready to stow their bags away and begin the fun.

One part of the living room had a couch and a monitor, as well as a bookcase with a few guidebooks on it. Further back, there was a kitchenette with an island and some stools. On the wall next to the kitchenette, there was a screen door that opened to a small balcony. The curtains were open, and they could see a set of chairs and a table there.

Rita had already run to the room on the right side, throwing open the door. Juno trailed over to the left side, and Peter followed along.

“Man,” Juno commented, pulling out his comms and navigating to the camera app with his brows furrowed slightly, “Benten is gonna be jealous as fuck. Too bad he had a performance this week.” He snapped a photo of their bedroom, and planned to get Rita to remind him how to send it later.

The aesthetic of the bedroom matched that of main room. Creams, beiges, and a touch of mint. Peter was a fan.

Juno dropped his black duffle bag on the couch in the room. There was a couch, a chair, and a coffee table, as well as a vanity with a chair in front of it and a pen with paper sitting atop the vanity. There was no monitor in the room, but that hardly mattered. There was also a tall wardrobe at the far side of the room.

Peter placed his suitcase on top of the bed and unzipped it, taking out his short-sleeved dress shirts to start. They were lightweight and made of natural fibres, he had three in solid colour and two in fun floral patterns. He unfolded some hangers from the front pocket of his suitcase, and slide each shirt onto a hanger.

“What are you _doing_?” Juno asked in an accusatory tone. Peter carried his shirts over and opened up the wardrobe.

“I’m unpacking. Oh, wait, I understand your confusion-“ Peter paused, a smirk coming over his features, “this is called _hanging_ your clothing Juno. It’s what you do to _put them away_. I’ve been in your room, I know you’re unfamiliar with this practice,” Peter ended with a low chuckle. He hung his shirts and then turned back towards his suitcase, seeing Juno’s scowl.

“We’ll be here for, like, five days, Peter. What’s the point?” Juno argued back, a hand on his hips.

Peter shrugged his shoulders, continuing to put away his clothing. “It prevents wrinkles.”

“Oh, the humanity,” Juno quipped, throwing a hand to the side of his face without the eyepatch. He then sat on the edge of the bed and watched as Peter unpacked the rest of his suitcase.

Rita came into their room a few moments later, having changed into her bathing suit and a long t-shirt to cover it. She also asked, “Are you actually putting away your clothes, Mista Valentine?”

“Why yes, I am,” Peter said simply, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Rita didn’t mean anything by it, he knew.

“Huh. I thought people only did that in old movies,” Rita said, squeezing her large beach towel to her chest.

“I am a very particular type of person,” Peter replied, hanging the last of his clothing. “There, all done.”

“Oh, hey,” Juno said somewhat abruptly, pushing himself to stand. “I wanted to test something out, actually,” he said. Rita and Peter looked at him, fully attentive. “Can you two step out into the living room for a minute?” 

“Well, okay, boss,” Rita said, and Peter said, “Why yes of course,” at the same time. The two of them shuffled out, and Juno bit back a smirk as he shut and locked the door.

“Did he… just want us to leave him alone?” Peter asked, and Rita shrugged.

“It’s not impossible,” Rita said slowly. "Mista Steel works in mysterious ways."

Then, the two of them heard some faint yelling. 

Rita’s brows furrowed and Peter’s shot up. The screaming was muffled, but audible. There was a bit more noise, though it wasn’t entirely discernable what Juno was doing in there.

After a few moments, Juno opened the door, clearing his throat. “So, uh, how much could you hear from out here?”

Rita blinked her eyes, and then she let out a shriek of her own, “MISTA STEEL!”

“What?” Juno asked, voice innocuous. “Was it bad?”

“You’re impossible,” Rita groaned, her face entirely pinched. “Nah, it wasn’t too bad, it was mostly muffled,” she added a moment later, and then looked between Peter and Juno with a tight frown.

“Good, good. I was screaming at the top of my lungs, so,” Juno gave a satisfied nod. Rita scowled.

“I’m going to the beach, like, right now. See you two _later,_ ” she said, shaking her head at him.

Juno laughed and Peter pressed his lips together as Rita grabbed her oversized straw bag from the couch and slung it around her shoulder, striding out of the door without another word. Juno kept laughing.

“Well,” Peter said with finality, and Juno smirked at him. Peter walked back into the bedroom, and Juno locked the door behind him. A beat later, Peter spoke again, “You are _incredibly_ funny, Juno.”

Peter brought his arms around Juno’s waist and pulled him a bit closer. “What?” Juno tilted his head, “I’m just being practical! I mean, unless you thought there was no possibility of us _connecting_ this time around, which-” Juno placed his hands on Peter’s forearms, and ran them up to his biceps as Peter leaned down.

“Oh, I would say us _connecting_ is still highly likely,” Peter said, and Juno glanced down at his lips before kissing him again.

At that point, Peter walked Juno back to the bed slowly, and Juno broke their kiss. “Oh,” Juno said, placing a hand on Peter’s chest, “if we’re heading to the beach, soon, we should probably get changed.”

“Certainly,” Peter said, nodding his head. The long, high-waisted skirt and loose, lacy tank top he was wearing for travel were actually quite beach appropriate, but he did need to wear something to swim.

Regardless, Juno smirked up at him, slowly moving to take off Peter’s top. Peter then slipped his hands under Juno’s own shirt, pulling it over his head.

Juno’s hands came back up to Peter’s chest, his touch faint. Peter placed his hands on Juno’s waist, and Juno leaned up again just a bit. Peter kissed him again.

Slowly, they made their way onto the bed, with Juno lying back and Peter pressing his thigh between Juno’s legs, the slit in Peter’s skirt allowing him freedom of movement. Juno pressed his hips upwards as they kissed.

Peter pushed himself up, taking a moment to tear his glasses off his face and then toss them carelessly onto the bed. Juno’s hands were at the band of his skirt, slipping under just an inch at his Peter’s hips.

“Do you.. want to?” Juno asked, and Peter smirked at him.

“What, _connect_?” Peter asked, voice light and teasing.

“ _Fuck_ ,” Juno corrected slowly, both emphasized and monotonous. Peter laughed.

“Whatever you wish to call it,” Peter smiled, “Yes, Juno.”

With that, Juno nodded and they both moved to take Peter’s skirt off.

While Peter was tossing his skirt on the floor, Juno slid his pants down to reveal plain high-cut briefs in dark purple. Peter’s eyes looked Juno up and down as he got back between Juno’s bent knees and placed his hands on Juno’s thighs.

Juno reached for him, so Peter leaned forward to kiss him, getting closer and placing his hands beside Juno’s head on the bed. Juno lifted one of his legs and hooked it around Peter’s waist, and Peter rolled his hips forward to press against Juno’s.

Their tongues tangled for a few moments, and Juno moaned eagerly. Peter lifted one hand to skim along Juno’s thigh, slowly sitting back up so he could move to take Juno’s underwear off.

Juno nodded when Peter gave him a meaningful look, and Peter threw Juno’s underwear to the side, too, before trailing his hand up the inside of Juno’s thigh slowly.

Peter smirked as he saw Juno’s mouth hang open, eye closed, taking in a deep breath and sighing it out. “Oh, what a goddess you truly are, Juno,” Peter murmured. Juno opened his eye and glanced up at the ceiling as Peter’s fingers edged ever closer between Juno’s legs.

“Well, this goddess demands you actually touch him,” Juno snipped, and Peter smirked.

“If this is to be how I worship,” Peter said delicately, reverence in his voice, “I will gladly call myself a man of faith.” With that, Peter slipped his fingers between Juno’s lips and used two fingertips to rub Juno’s clit.

“Poetic,” Juno breathed out, his word followed shortly by an airy moan.

“I try,” Peter admitted. He slid his fingers up and down Juno’s folds, feeling his wetness and then bringing them back up to touch his clit. Juno tilted his head back and moaned a little louder 

Peter played with Juno’s clit for another few moments before sliding two fingers down and inside of Juno, hearing him gasp. Peter watched carefully as he fingered Juno. He was already learning quickly what Juno liked. He thrust his fingers deep, and hard, and Juno bit his lip and moaned.

“Peter,” Juno whined, and Peter brushed his thumb against Juno’s clit.

“Yes, dear?” Peter asked. Juno rolled his hips up a bit, moving his hand to Peter’s shoulder.

“You wanna go grab a condom?” Juno asked, and Peter nodded. He slowed his fingers before pulling them out. “Wherever they are. Guess we should have done that before we started,” Juno sighed. Peter went to his jacket pocket and found one fairly quickly, chuckling at the look on Juno’s face when he returned so soon.

“I knew to come prepared, this time,” Peter told him, and Juno breathed a laugh.

“Good,” Juno said, and then he brought himself up to kiss Peter for a few moments before getting back into the position he seemed to prefer.

Peter took a moment to roll on the condom and stroked himself a few times, biting his lip as he got between Juno’s legs. As usual, he pushed his cock between the lips of Juno’s cunt just a couple times first, watching Juno’s eyelid flutter as he did. Then, Peter aligned their bodies, and thrust into him.

Juno sighed out a moan and placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder blade when Peter leaned forward, carefully, and then rolled his hips. Sooner, rather than later, Juno hooked his leg on Peter’s hip again and thrust his hips upwards, too.

They found a good rhythm and Juno used his free hand to pull Peter down to kiss him before moaning, “Harder,” against Peter’s lips.

Always one to please his lovers, Peter did as Juno requested, shifting his weight just slightly before thrusting into him with more and more force.

Juno tilted his head back and moaned, loudly- there was a reason he tested just how soundproof the walls were, even though Rita wasn’t there anymore anyway. “God, Peter,” Juno whined.

“You’re so gorgeous,” Peter told him, then he slowed just long enough to pull back. Juno gave him a little pout, but Peter placed his hand on Juno’s abdomen before sliding it down to press his thumb against Juno’s clit, continuing to thrust into him.

Juno bit down on his lip, rolling his hips up into Peter. Peter gripped Juno’s hip with his free hand, feeling the heat pool in his core as Juno squeezed around him.

“Juno,” Peter gasped, feeling it intensely as Juno came with a cry. Juno kept their bodies pushed together with his leg around Peter’s hip.

Seconds later, Peter came, too, with a groan on his lips. Juno let his leg and arms fall from Peter’s body, chest heaving with his laboured breathing.

Peter slowly pulled away from Juno, and went to do away with the condom. Then, they laid down together for just a few minutes, wordlessly agreeing that sex should be accompanied by at least a little cuddling.

“Guess we should get ready and go to the beach, sometime today,” Juno said, as Peter’s fingers traced some of the scars on his body.

“Mhhh. I suppose,” Peter said, and Juno gave him a mischievous little smile.

“ _Or_ ,” Juno said slowly, and he brought his lips back to Peter’s. Peter smirked against his lips as well.

\--

About thirty minutes or so later, Juno and Peter- well, Emery, now that they were no longer alone, wandered towards the beach with a large canvas bag in tow. It was far from sparse, but there were plenty of open spots as well.

Juno had changed into high-waisted swimming bottoms in yellow and a black t-shirt and was holding his hand over his good eye to block the sun. Emery was wearing semi-fitted trunks underneath linen shorts and a lighter yellow button-up, and had swapped the practical-yet-stylish glasses he'd been wearing for dainty, round sunglasses.

By some miracle, they were spotted right away, with Rita shouting to them,

“MISTA STEEL! OVER HERE!”

Rita was sitting next to Jet Siquliak, a beach ball between them on the large blanket they were sitting on. Rita was wearing big, heart-shaped sunglasses and Jet wore much more practical athletic shades. Rita picked up the beach ball and scooted closer to Jet as Juno pulled Emery over to them.

“Hey, Rita,” Juno greeted, “Big Guy,” he nodded at Jet.

“Hello, Juno,” Jet looked up at him.

“This is Emery,” Juno said, gesturing to Peter, as he sat down next to Rita. Emery sat as well.

“Hello,” Jet repeated, “My name is Jet.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Emery said, flashing a smile.

“And I’m _Rita!”_ Rita announced, squeezing the beach ball.

“Have you not met Emery? I thought you traveled here together,” Jet said, tilting his head.

“No, I have,” Rita told him. 

Juno just ignored that whole line of conversation and said, “Man, it’s hotter out here than I thought it was gonna be." He started pulling his t-shirt away from his chest to fan himself.

“And Mista Steel, _why_ are you wearing a black shirt?” Rita asked, and Juno glanced down at himself.

“Well, I was gonna take it off when we go into the water,” Juno argued.

“Did you put sunscreen on, then?” Rita asked. He scoffed.

“I mean, not yet,” Juno said, tone defensive and annoyed. “I don’t think it’s _that_ big of a deal, anyway.”

“Protection from the sun’s rays is very important, Juno, no matter your skin tone, especially on Earth,” Jet said. “And it is preferable to apply it 10 minutes _before_ entering the sun- but don’t let that deter you from applying it at all.”

With that, Rita reached into her straw bag and handed Juno the sunscreen. He scoffed again, loudly, and then took off his shirt, stuffing it into the bag he and Emery had brought. “Fine,” he said, snappy, but Rita was well aware he was not angry.

“Do you need help to reach your back?” Jet asked, and Juno made a little noise.

“I’m sure I can handle it,” Emery said quickly, though it felt a bit more like Peter. His tone was light, but a tiny bit clipped, “I am closer, after all.” With that, Emery plucked the tube out of Juno’s hands and squirted some of the lotion out.

Juno snickered and Rita smirked at him, but Jet seemed unperturbed. “Of course,” Jet nodded, “so long as everyone has adequate protection, I am happy.”

“I’ll have to get your back, too, hey, Em?” Juno said, feeling Peter’s hands come up to his shoulders, rubbing the lotion into his skin. 

“I would appreciate that, dear,” Emery said, and Juno smiled just a bit.

Emery slowly brought the sunscreen up to Juno’s biceps, then made sure he got all the way down his back, and onto Juno’s sides as well.

“So! Back to what I was sayin’ about the stream I watched on the plane,” Rita said, turning towards Jet, who oriented towards her as well. She launched, or relaunched, into her explanation, as she tended to do.

Juno then took the lotion, and made sure to cover his chest, before getting to his knees. “Okay, off with your shirt,” Juno said. Emery smiled at him, wordlessly undoing the few buttons that were actually, well, buttoned.

“And then, the woman took out this _mega blaster_ that could have destroyed the whole world!” Rita was saying, as Emery leaned forward slightly so Juno could apply the sunscreen to his back. He went slow, hands strong and methodical, careful to cover every inch of exposed skin.

“There,” Juno said, once he finished, squeezing Emery’s shoulders.

“Thank you,” Emery said, and then Juno leaned over him to kiss him.

“You _two!”_ Rita shrieked and they both looked at her, with startled expressions.

“Sorry, Rita,” Juno said, and Peter bit back a smile and said, “My bad.”

“Oh, no worries, you’re just so _cute_ ,” Rita said, and she reached over to pinch Juno’s cheek.

“Hey! I will _bite_ you,” Juno said, backing away from her as best he could as she cackled.

Juno then crawled to sit on the side of the blanket opposite of Rita and stretched out his legs before him, as Emery finished up applying sunscreen.

Quickly, Rita started talking again, “SO! Jet and I were discussing our plans for the week! We’ll only be here a few days, after all, so we wanna get in as much fun as possible before the wedding, cause that’s gonna eat up the whole day, and then the last day we’re gonna be busy packing and going to sleep early.”

“Aren’t we supposed to here to relax?” Juno droned, running a finger over a scar that stretched over his knee and onto his thigh. “You have been telling me to take a vacation for years, Rita.”

“Well, sure, boss, but! There’s so much to dooo, we gotta make the most of our trip to earth, don’t you think?”

“Eh,” Juno said.

“Technically, we have scheduled some downtime into the itinerary, Juno,” Jet informed him. “Tomorrow will be action-packed, but the day after promises to be lowkey. Rita and I have decided to go for a hike tomorrow, off the resort, for the morning and early afternoon.”

“Yeah, miss me with that shit,” Juno said, and Emery couldn’t help but laugh.

“Well, you certainly don’t have to join us,” Jet informed them. “After that, we planned to get dinner off-resort, and go stargazing, though.”

Juno glanced at Emery the right moment to catch his eyes lighting up. “Stargazing sounds nice. Maybe we should go off-resort, too, but.. there’s no way I’m hiking.”

“I bet the hikes are beautiful, but, I did not bring proper footwear,” Emery said diplomatically. “There _is_ an art gallery that caught my eye in one of the guides from the spaceport,” he mused, and Juno hummed.

“I’d go to an art gallery,” Juno said, tilting his head one way and then the other.

“PERFECT!” Rita said, throwing the beach ball up in the air and catching it with the loud bang of her hands smacking the plastic. They all widened their eyes at the noise. “You two go out to the art gallery, we go for our hike, we meet up for supper and then drive back up the mountains to look at the stars! It’s gonna be _grrreat_!”

“Sounds like a plan,” Emery said, and Rita grinned at him.

“Now that that has been settled, would anybody like to go into the water?” Jet asked, starting to stand.

“Yeah!” Rita said, placing the beach ball back on the blanket. Jet offered his hand to help her stand.

“Hell yeah,” Juno said, and he looked over at Emery.

“I would like to swim, yes. But, will it be... okay to leave our things here?” Emery asked, though it was definitely Peter who was mildly worried. He gave Juno a pinched look.

“You left your comms back in your room, right? I’m sure it’s fine,” Juno waved a hand and stood up, also offering his hand to Emery.

“Our room keys are in there,” Peter muttered under his breath, and then sighed, “okay,” he nodded, and took Juno’s hand. Rita linked her arm in Jet’s and Juno’s, and Juno swung Emery’s hand as they approached the ocean.

“LAST ONE IN THE WATER SUCKS!” Rita yelled as she unhooked her arms about five feet away and ran straight into the water. Jet and Juno shared a Look, and then Jet took off after her as she laughed.

“C’mon, we’re not five years old!” Juno yelled back at her, and then looked over to Emery. He just shook his head.

“If we both go in at once, do we both suck, or is it neither of us?”

Juno just hummed, and then let go of Emery’s hand and ran a few steps into the water before turning towards him. “Haha, you suck!”

“Juno I _trusted_ you,” Peter said, putting a hand on his chest. Jet was far out of earshot for him to drop the already paper-thin act. Juno tilted his head back and laughed. Peter walked into the water and Juno reached out to take his hands.

“A _grievous_ mistake,” Juno snickered. Then, he glanced down, skimming one hand in the water and holding onto Peter’s with his other one. “It’s not even cold,” Juno observed, and Peter smiled at him.

“What are you slowpokes DOING? We’re supposed to be getting _in_ the water, not just standing with our feet in the sand,” Rita was yelling. Juno twisted to look back at her.

“Cool your jets, Rita, we’re coming!” Juno yelled.

“Jet _s_? I don’t have multiple, there’s just the one, Mista Steel!! Also, his temperature ain’t up to me!”

“Eveerryone’s a comedian,” Juno muttered, and Peter laughed.

“C’mon,” Peter said, squeezing Juno’s hand before pulling him further into the ocean.

“Rita! I’m warning you _right now,_ if you get my hair wet,” Juno said, sticking out his finger at her as he approached. She was standing in a spot where the water was up above her waist. Of course, on both Juno and Peter the water wasn’t nearly as high.

“No worries, Mista Steel, I don’t want to get my hair wet, either.”

“Where is Jet, by the way?” Juno asked.

“Oh, somewhere back there,” Rita said, pointing towards the ocean. A couple beats later, Jet surfaced a good distance away from them. Rita waved, and he waved back.

“I shouldn’t be surprised,” Juno muttered.

Now that they’d arrived, Rita turned her back to the two of them and took another couple steps into the water, before letting herself actually swim.

Juno caught Peter’s eye and they walked a bit further in the water, alongside Rita, before they too started to swim. They all made sure to keep their heads above water.

Rita started telling them about her favourite streams taking place at the beach, including one about bloodthirsty mega sharks. Peter and Juno listened attentively as they waded in the water.

A few minutes later, Jet swam back to them and only splashed them a little when he arrived.

“Having fun, Jet?” Rita asked him, cutting herself off from her story.

“I am,” Jet said with a nod. “And the three of you?”

“Yes!” Rita said.

“Yeah,” Juno said, and “Yes, of course,” Emery replied at the same time.

So, they kept swimming, and chatting. Jet asked Emery about himself for a few minutes, and Peter smoothly took on the role again. He eagerly explained how he and Juno met, what he did for a living, and so on. Jet appeared to be making plain small talk. Not particularly warm, but not outright unfriendly either. Jet didn't _seem_ to suspect a thing. Then again, why would he?

They spent almost an hour in the water before they decided to go back to their blankets and bags. Nothing appeared to be touched, and they all grabbed their towels to dry off.

“Does anyone want some _snacks?_ ” Rita asked, eying her bag eagerly.

“Please don’t tell me you _only_ have salmon puffs?” Juno asked, misery and skepticism in his voice.

Rita placed a hand on her chest in scandal, “I brought a variety, thank you very much!” With that, she dumped a bunch of snacks out on the blanket between them, and Juno selected the most appealing to grab and open. Rita also picked something for herself, and Jet grabbed something, too, so Emery did the same.

They all settled back, and Rita started up another conversation, which they all contributed to at least minimally as they snacked and dried off in the sun.

“We are still going to get dinner after this, yes?” Jet asked, after about ten minutes or so.

“Yep! Down in the restaurant on the way into the building,” Rita said.

“I will stop eating the snacks, then. I would not want to ruin my appetite,” Jet said, carefully folding over the opening of the bag.

“Good idea,” Juno said, slowly starting to put his snack bag down. 

Rita ate a few more puffs before crumbling the top of her own bag.

They hung around just talking and basking in the sun for another hour or so, and they were almost completely dry by the time they packed up their things. Jet walked into the building with them, and they parted ways to go back to their rooms and get dressed before meeting up again at the restaurant.

The restaurant was a busy, buffet style place that was part of their hotel package, so they each grabbed trays and went to collect their food. Rita was the one to pick their table.

Only a few moments after they sat down and started eating, a hand was laid on Juno’s shoulder. Jet, sitting opposite of him, looked up with a smile.

“Hello, Buddy,” Jet greeted.

A second later, Rita gasped, “Hey, Ms Aurinko!”

“Oh, hey, Buddy,” Juno said, turning his head to look up at her as well. 

“Hello, darlings,” Buddy smiled brilliantly at them all, and turned to pull a chair next to Juno. “I cannot stay too long. Vespa has just gone back to our room, but I wanted to come say hi.”

“Yeah, no worries. Um, hey, I don’t think you’ve met Emery, yet?” Juno said, and Buddy’s eyes landed on Peter beside him.

“I don’t think I have. A pleasure, to meet you,” Buddy said.

“I assure you, the pleasure is all mine! And congratulations, for your impending nuptials, Ms Aurinko,” Peter said, and Buddy brushed a strand of hair over her shoulder.

“Why thank you. And, please, you- _and_ Rita…” she eyed the woman next to Jet, “call me Buddy.”

“Of course, Buddy,” Emery said. Juno placed his hand on Emery’s leg.

“So how have you been settling in? You arrived today, yes?” Buddy asked. Rita nodded her head.

“Yep! We dropped off our stuff in the room, which is _really_ nice, by the way, and Mista Valentine even put away his _clothing,_ like a weirdo. Then we headed down to the beach and just hung out, the water was nice and warm. It’s soooo beautiful here, Ms- Buddy,” Rita said. “I am so! Excited! To go check out the town and the hiking trails tomorrow.”

“Oh, Jet, you found someone to go on the hike with you?” Buddy asked, and Jet smiled.

“I have! Rita has agreed to accompany me. Of course, this depends on nothing coming up that I need to be present for, tomorrow.”

“Oh, I’m sure it won’t,” Buddy waved her hand. “I have some appointments that I can handle on my own, and all the wedding business is set to go. Is there anything else on the docket?”

“We’re gonna go check out the art gallery, tomorrow,” Juno said, gesturing to Emery beside him.

“Ooh, that sounds quite fun!” Buddy said, eyebrows raised in genuine interest. 

“And then we are planning to go stargazing, in the evening,” Jet explained, “all four of us.”

“Ah! Well. That sounds incredibly lovely,” Buddy said with gracious smile. “I must be going, but I am _very_ glad to hear you are settling in and making fun plans.” Buddy stood, and patted Juno’s shoulder. 

They said their goodbyes to Buddy, and then they ate.

They stayed a while longer chatting, before retiring to their respective rooms with plans of going to sleep early, given their long day of travel, plus the next few days ahead of them.

“Hey,” Juno said. They were standing in his room in pjs. Juno wrapped his arms around Peter from behind as Peter looked in the mirror, methodically massaging face cream into his forehead, “Did you want me to sleep on the couch?”

Peter laughed, as if the idea were absurd. “Oh, Juno, of course not. I am perfectly comfortable sleeping with you,” Peter smirked, pausing pointedly. “Besides, this bed offers more than enough space to spread out, should we need to.”

“Kay,” Juno said, pressing a kiss to Peter’s shoulder blade. Peter smiled, patting Juno’s arm before turning around. He leaned down, and caught Juno’s lips in a soft kiss.

With that, they went to sleep for the night.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please see the updated tags, and, if you want to know a bit more about the additional tags (Public Sex, Dirty Talk) see end notes.

As promised, Rita was up early bumbling around the suite as Peter waited for his coffee to brew and stared out the window at the ocean. Juno was still asleep as Rita chatted to him about how excited she was, and Peter requested that she take some photos on her hike. She dutifully agreed.

Once Rita left, Peter went back into the bedroom and sat on the bed next to Juno, reading a book he’d brought on the topic of polite behaviour on the internet in the 21st century. It was quite fascinating, detailing the intricate online mannerisms of the people who lived at that time.

He sipped his coffee carefully and placed it back down on the bedside table.

Almost an hour went by before Juno finally started to stir.

“Good morning, darling,” Peter sang cheerfully, running his hand over Juno’s hair.

“Nggggh,” Juno curled around him and pressed his face to Peter’s thigh. Peter rubbed Juno’s shoulder, until Juno slowly pulled away and sat up. “How long have you been awake?” he asked, eyes bleary.

“Oh, about an hour or so. Rita has already left, with Jet,” Peter said. He took the chance to shut his book and place it on the table with his empty coffee mug.

“Mh. Okay,” Juno said, rubbing the skin under his missing eye. “When do you want to leave?”

“We’re in no rush, dear,” Peter said, watching Juno stretch and appreciating the view. “We should stop by the restaurant and get breakfast, before we leave, but otherwise our only plan is the art gallery. I suppose we could stop by some of the shops, too,” Peter explained, and Juno nodded slowly.

“Okay. I’m gonna shower, in that case,” Juno said, tossing the blankets aside.

“Oh, good idea,” Peter said, humming thoughtfully. “Perhaps I should have used my time before you woke up more effectively.”

“Well, now we can just shower together, hm?” Juno suggested with a smirk, pulling his shirt from his back over his head.

Peter smirked back at him, eyes glinting, “That _is_ true.”

So, the two of them got in the shower together, complete with some _steamy_ sex before they actually washed up.

Then, they got dressed for the day. Juno slipped into a long, flowy black skirt and a high-necked, frilly shirt that Benzaiten had picked out some time ago.

Peter wore one of his floral pattern button-ups, buttoned _most_ of the way, and some regular black slacks fitted perfectly to his legs. While Juno wasn’t looking, Peter slipped the watch he still had yet to return onto his wrist.

Following that, they went down to breakfast. Peter had tea, not wanting to over-caffeinate, and Juno eagerly drained a cup of coffee.

As they ate, Peter used his comms to figure out which bus they would need to take to get to the art gallery, then they made their way over to the bus stop.

And when they got to the gallery, Peter insisted on paying for the entry fee.

“But I’m, like, the whole reason you’re here,” Juno argued with him, brows dipping in frustration.

“Yes, and you’re paying for the hotel I’m staying in. “Just allow me to pay this once, Juno,” Peter insisted once more, waving him off. Juno grumbled, stepping back and begrudgingly letting Peter pay.

Peter placed his hand on Juno’s shoulder blade as they walked in slowly. Juno looked down at the paper map he’d grabbed from the front desk.

They wandered through the halls of the gallery at an easy pace. It was quite large, and much of it dedicated to local art, but a significant portion was dedicated to art from all different places and times. In some sections, Peter recognized the works, and eagerly started to point them out to Juno.

Juno couldn’t help but grin when he saw Peter’s eyes widen each time they came across something he recognized. Juno allowed himself to be dragged closer to the artwork, Peter gesturing towards it as he spouted off random facts about the artist, or the time period the art was from, or what was used to create it.

Juno looped his arm in Peter’s, holding onto his bicep as they walked into a room with a bunch of statues. Peter’s eyes got excited again, so Juno smirked at him. “Oh, I am very partial to statues,” Peter said, and Juno snorted.

“Any you recognize, babe?” Juno asked, and Peter glanced over at him.

“ _Ooh, ‘_ babe’, hm?” Peter asked, flashing Juno his sharp teeth. Juno just pursed his lips and shrugged.

“You have approximately eight different pet names for me between darling, dear, dear detective, et cetera, I can have _one_ ,” Juno argued.

“Nowhere did I say you should _not_ call me babe,” Peter said with a note of amusement to his voice. Juno grumbled at him, as usual.

“Okay, _babe_ ,” Juno said, sticking out his tongue.

Peter chuckled, “Again, I don’t understand why you are giving me that tone. I quite enjoy the idea of you calling me babe. You are not being _nearly_ as sassy as you think you are.”

“I am always being as sassy as I think I am,” Juno insisted, “sassier, even.”

Peter just shook his head, “Anyway! This statue is _ancient_ ,” he said, gesturing to a tall woman carved in marble. He sighed, wistfully. As he looked to the next statue, Peter gasped,

“Oh, look, Juno, it’s you!” Peter said quickly, and Juno tilted his head. “Hera!” he emphasized.

“Come again?” Juno said. Peter pulled him over to said next statue, and Juno allowed it. It was another tall woman, with a staff of some sort in her hand.

“This is also _quite_ ancient, Juno. It’s a statue of the Goddess Hera, a predecessor of the Goddess _Juno_ ,” Peter explained, excitement evident in his voice.

“Ohhhh,” Juno said, nodding slowly with his understanding. “Gotcha.”

“She’s marvellous, isn’t she?” Peter said, glancing at the statue, and then at Juno himself. Juno was staring up at Hera, so Peter took the chance to marvel at Juno’s face. Sure, the statue looked very little like Juno, but Peter thought, perhaps, they shared a similar fire in their eyes.

“Yeah, it’s pretty alright,” Juno said, and he looked back at Peter. Peter forgot to wipe the adoration off his face quite in time. He looked away quickly, so perhaps his recovery was okay.

“It may be, how you say, “basic”,” Peter did air quotes, scrunching his nose, “but I do love the Greco-Roman works, and the things they inspired,” Peter confessed, that wistful note back in his voice.

“I take it your interest in art didn’t come from Elias Slate, hm?” Juno asked, and Peter looked back at him as they walked to the next set of statues, these ones of various animals.

“Oh, Goodness, no. Peter _N_ has been a connoisseur of all things beautiful for most of, if not all, his life. It is easier to create fiction from a grain of fact, after all,” Peter explained. Juno gave a small smile, a curl at the edge of his lips.

“Yeah, doesn’t really surprise me about you,” Juno hummed. “Like, at all,” he added with a little laugh.

“No, I suppose it wouldn’t. It has been ages since I’ve worn my heart on my sleeve, of course- but I don’t very much hide that I appreciate beauty,” Peter told him in a light tone. “It goes both surface level and incredibly deep, in a way,” he mused.

“I’m gonna pretend I understand that statement,” Juno said.

“It’s just as well that you don’t, my dear detective,” Peter’s eyes crinkled as his smirk turned into a softer smile. “Shall we move to the next room?”

They did move to the next room. The art there was much more abstract, which Peter was less of a fan of. Juno noticed that he tried to point out at least some merits, anyway. It seemed like, perhaps, Peter didn’t want to discredit the value of art, even when he didn’t like it visually at all, which Juno could respect.

Juno didn’t know too much about art, but he did actually like museums, in general. They had a good atmosphere. A lot of anonymity. The people watching was fascinating, and a lot of the art was good to look at, even if he didn’t get the “meaning”. Peter’s enthusiasm was almost certainly helping endear him to the space, too.

Before they were finished at the museum, they stopped at the café to get a sandwich and a coffee. Juno ordered something simple, and Peter ordered something complex. Juno demanded he be allowed to pay, and Peter acquiesced. They sat near the window, and gazed out at the street below.

They were in a medium sized city. It was as technologically advanced as Hyperion but, well, cleaner. Less hectic, perhaps. Though Juno would admit that he might feel differently if he _knew_ the city like he knew Hyperion. Being a tourist in a place afforded an entirely different perspective than the locals would get.

Thoughts of Hyperion lead to thoughts of Benzaiten, who would sooner or later be on the stage while Juno was a whole planet away.

“Cred for your thoughts, darling?” Peter asked, blowing on his fancy, foam-filled tea.

“Just thinking about the city,” Juno said nonchalantly. “Wondering what my brother might be up to,” he added.

“You said he had a performance?” Peter asked, and Juno nodded.

“He would be here, otherwise,” Juno said. “He doesn’t really know Buddy, but, the couple times they met, they got along pretty well. And he would never miss an opportunity to go to a resort if he didn’t _have_ to.”

“I get the impression you two are quite different,” Peter observed.

“Like night and day,” Juno said with an amused noise in the back of his nose. “Do you have any siblings?” Juno asked amicably, and Peter left out a laugh that was colder than Juno expected.

“Ah, no,” Peter said, clearing his throat. “I… have never been much of a family man,” he said delicately.

“Hm,” Juno said, blowing on his coffee before taking a sip. “I’m really lucky, to have Ben. Our mom was shit, though,” he said.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Peter said, sincere. “My… father figure turned out to be a sort of _shit_ himself,” he offered, in exchange. Juno nodded slowly.

“How’s your latte?” Juno asked, and Peter took a sip.

“It’s quite lovely, Juno, thank you,” Peter smiled at him above the cup. Their conversation drifted on, chatting about the art they had seen, and their plans for the rest of the day. Peter had noticed a shopping district nearby, so they decided they’d go there next.

Once back outside, Peter placed his sunglasses on his nose before slinging one arm around Juno’s shoulder as they walked along the sidewalk. Juno placed his arm around Peter’s waist, and Peter used his free hand to check his comms to make sure they were heading in the right direction.

The shopping district was foot-traffic only, with most businesses having stalls that extended into the street from their stores. Once again, Peter’s eyes sparkled as he looked at the racks of clothing and displays of jewellery. And once again, he reminded himself he probably shouldn’t steal from people’s pockets in public, at least not with Juno on his arm.

“Anything catch your eye?” Peter asked, slowing down near a booth with clothing, bags, and hats.

“Ooh,” Juno said, looking towards a rack of leather belts and the bags at the side of it, “I _could_ use a new leather bag. Also, this reminds me… I need to find something to get Benzaiten as a souvenir.”

“Mh, the craftsmanship does seem nice on this,” Peter said thoughtfully, reaching to turn one of the bags over in his hand.

“Probably a bit out of my price range, if it is,” Juno said with a laugh. Peter glanced at him with a perked brow. Then Juno narrowed his eye, quietly hissing, “Don’t even think about it.”

“Think about what, Juno?” Peter asked, voice innocent.

“Nothing,” Juno muttered, then he leaned up pressed a firm kiss to Peter’s face.

Peter bit back the urge to laugh and let the leather bag drop from his hand. They continued to move through the shopping district.

Eventually, Juno found a t-shirt that he thought Benzaiten would appreciate, plus a couple little trinkets, so he stopped to buy them. Peter meandered away a bit while Juno waited in line, appreciating the flowers of the next stall over.

His heart beat a little faster as he glanced back over at Juno, a good few feet away by now. Juno did not appear to be paying attention to him. He was also on the side of his missing eye. What luck.

Peter bit his lip and plucked two roses from the _singles_ bucket, and then hummed and grabbed a dahlia to go with it. He flipped his wallet open to tap the card on the self-serve payment system, and snatched one sheet of brown paper to wrap the stems of the three flowers together. Then, he hid them behind his back, and walked in the direction of the stall Juno was just about to leave.

“Hey, thought you were running away from me,” Juno said. Peter smiled, his tongue poking at a pointy tooth.

“Oh, Juno, I would never do that.”

“A second time?” Juno countered, and Peter sighed.

“Will I never live that down? I was called away for a job, darling,” Peter pouted. Juno laughed.

“You _won’t_ live that down, actually,” Juno informed him. “Say, _baby_ , why’s your hand behind your back?” Juno asked, leaning forward to try to look around Peter. Peter moved back to prevent him from doing so.

“Why, dear detective, I thought you’d never ask,” Peter said, and he produced the flowers from the opposite side that Juno was leaning. Juno’s eyes went wide. “For you,” he said, offering them.

“Peter!” Juno said, taking the flowers at the same time as he took a sharp breath. “You didn’t.”

“I assure you, I did, Juno. The evidence is right here,” Peter said, gesturing towards the flowers.

“You… you _sap_ ,” Juno said, pressing the flowers close to his lips, obviously fighting hard to keep from smiling.

“I try my best,” Peter said, and Juno lowered the flowers to his side and used his free hand to grab Peter’s neck and pull him down to kiss him, hard. Peter made a noise against his lips as his hands came up to hold Juno close to him.

They may have been on a crowded street, but it felt like they were the only people in the world.

In fairness, they were beginning to act like they were only people in the world, as Juno prodded Peter’s lips with his tongue and Peter eagerly let him into his mouth.

Juno moved his hand to fiddle with the uppermost buttoned button on Peter’s shirt, and Peter reluctantly pulled away from him. “Juno, we are in public,” Peter murmured firmly. Juno made a whiney noise.

“So? There’s gotta be somewhere private around here,” Juno muttered, and Peter made a noise of surprise and amusement.

 _“Juno_ ,” Peter repeated.

“What? Don’t tell me you’ve never had sex in a semi-public place,” Juno said, voice low and just a bit throaty. Peter bit his lip.

“Of course I have, this street is a great deal more than semi-public, _and_ ,” Peter said sharply, pulling away and glaring at Juno with a significant pout, “Juno! _You and I_ had sex at your best friend’s wedding, in the middle of the hall! Was it truly that forgettable? My word, I guess I must step up my game, so to speak,” Peter said, voice deeply offended as Juno started to laugh.

“We _did_ do that, didn’t we?” Juno said, and then he rolled his eyes, “I didn’t _forget_ forget. I mean, it wasn’t the… most public sex I’ve ever had, that’s all! It was _very good_ ,” Juno insisted. Peter just sulked.

“Well. I suppose we will need to find _somewhere_ to go, so this time I can blow your mind and ensure you will _remember_ remember, hmmm?” Peter said. Juno snickered.

“I mean, if this is what gets you to fuck me as soon as possible,” Juno lifted one shoulder and smirked, kissing Peter again. Peter kissed him back, more aggressively than before, and Juno fought his urge to moan since they were still, in fact, standing in a crowd between two shopping stalls.

“Well,” Peter murmured against Juno’s lips. “Let’s keep walking, shall we?” he suggested, standing up straight. Juno nodded.

Then ended up walking for a bit, until they came across a park with lots of lush greenery, so much so that it almost felt they weren’t in a city.

At once, the two of them spotted a few clusters of bushes that might have some good coverage and perhaps enough room to sit while staying relatively hidden. Juno slowly pulled them towards the spot, and they surveyed the area as surreptitiously as they could.

He and Peter glanced over their shoulders before making pushing themselves between the biggest of the bushes. Juno was very careful not to crush his flowers as they did so. 

“I’m gonna poke my other eye out,” Juno muttered, wincing as he avoided the branches as best he could.

“Are you certain this is going to be worth it?” Peter asked.

Still, they did manage to shove themselves into a small spot in the middle of the bushes where they could sit. Peter plucked a leaf and twig from Juno’s hair, and Juno chuckled, placing his flowers gingerly on the ground before climbing into Peter’s lap and kissing him shamelessly.

Peter’s hands made their way to Juno’s back, then down to his ass, pulling his hips forward. Juno groaned against his lips, grasping the hair at the back of Peter’s head. Peter had half a mind to complain that he’d styled it this morning, but- he would rather have Juno’s hands messing it up, in all honesty.

“Peter,” Juno moaned against his lips, and Peter moved one hand to Juno’s hip, deftly gathering Juno’s skirt up in his hand.

“It’s just occurred to me, I don’t think we have any condoms, love,” Peter bit down on his lip, thinking. He skimmed his hand across Juno’s thigh.

“Goddammit,” Juno muttered. “Oh well,” he shrugged a moment later, “just finger me.”

“Of course,” Peter said, and Juno spread his legs as much as he could in his lap.

“Thank god I wore a skirt, hm?” Juno chuckled, and Peter smirked at him.

“I am _very_ glad,” Peter said, “though, the image of you half naked on my lap in a public park is also a nice one,” Peter hummed, and Juno whined, as Peter skimmed his fingers along the front of Juno’s underwear.

They were also lucky that Juno’s underwear were a bit skimpier than usual, unlike the shorts he wore more often. Peter could easily push them aside, slip his fingers in; so he did.

With one hand, Peter angled his wrist and slid his middle finger between Juno’s folds, finding him wet already. He hummed, and then brought the tip of his finger back up, rubbing a circle around Juno’s clit.

With his other hand, Peter gripped Juno’s hip, holding him there. Peter leaned forward, kissing along Juno’s jaw and catching Juno’s skin with his teeth periodically.

“Damn,” Juno breathed. Peter teased his clit for just a few moments before edging his fingers down again and sinking them inside Juno, feeling Juno’s gasp against him when he did so.

“Is it good, detective?” Peter asked, his lips on the shell of Juno’s ear. Juno nodded. “Mh, I want it to be _great_ , Juno,” Peter hissed, pressing the heel of his palm against Juno’s body as he fingered him, slow to start but picking up speed quickly. Juno bit down on his lip, dropping his head to Peter’s shoulder.

Peter knew his wrist would be in pain by the time he was done, but he couldn’t care less about that.

His other hand still on Juno’s waist, Peter pulled his Juno’s forward, encouraging Juno to move. Juno took the hint, fucking himself on Peter’s fingers.

“God,” Peter murmured, “you’re so good, Juno.” Peter kissed his neck again, as Juno breathed out a laugh against his skin.

“Are you saying I’m a good girl,” Juno said, lifting his head to come closer to Peter’s ear, now, “for getting you to fuck me in a public park?” Juno perked a brow, and then licked his lips, adding, “I’d think that’s more of a ‘dirty slut’ move, myself.”

“Who’s to say you aren’t both a good girl _and_ a dirty slut, Juno?” Peter asked, a note of amusement in his voice. His cheeks were so _very_ warm.

“Maybe I am,” Juno said, and then he moved to kiss Peter on the lips, shoving his tongue inside Peter’s mouth.

Peter crooked his fingers inside of Juno, relishing in the whines he was swallowing. He slowed for a moment, to adjust his palm and move his thumb to press against Juno’s clit before thrusting his fingers deeper again.

Juno continued to rut his hips forward with Peter’s hand gripping him tight, moaning as quietly as he could manage against Peter’s lips until he came, biting Peter’s lip for a second before tilting his head back.

Peter slowed his fingers inside Juno, keeping his thumb pressed to Juno’s clit until he rode out his orgasm completely. Then, Juno ducked his forehead to Peter’s chest as he caught his breath.

“Fuck,” Juno murmured. He lifted his head slowly, then looked up at the blue sky, covered only just a bit by a branch from a nearby tree. Juno laughed. “I can’t believe we’re doing this in broad daylight,” he muttered, looking around them.

“Well, I certainly hope this will be more _memorable_ for you.”

“Are you still on about that?” Juno asked, taking in another deep breath and shuttering slightly as Peter slowly drew his fingers from Juno’s cunt. Peter brought them to his lips and Juno watched him stick them in his mouth, mesmerized. Then, Juno added, “It definitely is the _most_ public of the places I’ve had sex now, I’ll give you that.”

Peter took his fingers from his mouth and pouted, “You _wounded_ me, Juno,” Juno rolled his eyes.

“You are the best fuck I’ve had in eons, Peter,” Juno told him, plainly, and Peter perked a brow. “You were also the best fuck I’d had in eons two years ago, mind you.”

Peter smirked, “Well now you’re just placating me and my bruised ego,” he said with a fake sniff, and Juno glanced from Peter’s eyes to his lips.

“I’m not, but, I have no control over what you believe,” Juno said with a shrug.

Peter chuckled lightly, muttering, “I suppose,” under his breath.

“Now!” Juno said, enthusiasm in his voice. “Want me to suck your cock?”

Peter’s brows rose. “As long as the position isn’t too uncomfortable for you,” Peter said carefully, and Juno waved him off, backing away from Peter so he could get on his knees. Peter moved to unbuckle his belt and unbutton his pants, bending one of his knees after pushing his underwear down to reveal his cock.

Peter bit his lip as he felt the air move around them, and watched as Juno came back between his legs. One of Juno’s hands landed on the ground next to Peter’s hip, and the other took his cock, stroking up and down slowly just a few times.

Then, Juno leaned forward and licked up the side of Peter’s cock. Peter brought one knuckle to his lips, ready to bite down when he needed to. Juno took the head of Peter’s cock into his mouth and sucked, once, before taking more of him into his mouth.

Peter’s eyes darted to the tops of the bushes, and then back down at Juno. He enjoyed the thrill of exhibitionism, but he had to admit it was easier to quell the accompanying anxiety with Juno’s body blocking most of his own.

Of course, he doubted he would last long out here, which would certainly be for the best in this case.

Juno wasn’t wasting time either, swirling his tongue around the head of Peter’s cock before bobbing down as far as he could take him. Peter bit back a sigh, and bit down on his knuckle, eyes going to the sky again. “Juno,” he murmured, as quietly he could.

Peter couldn’t be certain whether Juno even heard his name being uttered, but he was still enthusiastically sucking Peter’s cock into his mouth. Juno pulled away with an indecent noise, and then sat back enough to switch which hand was holding Peter at the base, and which was on the ground, before licking the side of Peter’s cock one more.

“You’re breathtaking,” Peter mumbled, a hand running over Juno’s hair once. “Such a good, dirty slut,” Peter bit down on his lip, feeling heat in his face. Juno looked up at him and pulled back to smirk for just a second before continuing with renewed enthusiasm.

Peter bit down on the heel of his hand again a few moments later, squeezing his eyes shut as he felt the heat pool in his core. He glanced down at Juno again, and put his free hand on Juno’s face.

“Juno,” Peter said, a bit more loudly than his previous gasps, “I’m close.”

Juno pulled back again and nodded, “Good,” he said, and then he took Peter’s cock back into his mouth and hummed.

Peter swallowed his moans as Juno swallowed around his cock. Peter screwed his eyes shut again as he came with a silent cry, biting down on his hand yet again.

Juno swallowed the load and pulled back, slowly.

“God, Juno,” Peter murmured. Juno sat up and wiped at his lips, smirking devilishly.

“You look so pretty when you’ve got that well-fucked expression on your face, Peter,” Juno said, and Peter pressed his lips together.

Peter brought one hand to Juno’s chin and kiss him. With the other, he did what it could to stuff himself back into his pants.

Juno climbed back into his lap seconds after Peter managed to button his pants. They kissed again, for a few moments. 

“I wish we could go back to the hotel so you could _fuck me_ fuck me,” Juno said against Peter’s lips, his hands tangled in Peter’s hair again.

“Well,” Peter said, and he brought his wrist up, looking down at the watch. “Hm, we don’t _really_ have enough time, if we’re still planning to meet Rita and Jet for dinner…”

“Hey, wait a second,” Juno said, voice quick and a little fiery. “That’s my watch!”

“Yes, Juno, I am aware,” Peter said plainly, a smirk making its way onto his lips. “Brilliant observation, detective. I’ve been wearing it all day, you know.”

“You dirty thief,” Juno said, and Peter shrugged.

“Not an inaccurate description, at least presently,” Peter said, looking down at himself. “I have been sitting on the ground for quite a few minutes, and we _did_ just have sex in public.”

Juno just laughed, clapping a hand over his mouth to muffle the sound.

“Would you like it back, darling?” Peter asked, moving to unlatch the watch on his wrist. “I did plan to give it to you soon.”

“Nah,” Juno waved, “you can wear it for today. Just remind me to get it back from you before we pack to leave.”

“Okay,” Peter nodded. He left the watch where it was on his wrist.

“We should probably get out of here, hm?” Juno said, shifting so he could sit up. He peered over the bushes as best he could, but they were quite tall, which was good for their purposes. Juno slowly stood up, then bent down to pick up his flowers from their spot on the ground.

Peter stood, as well, and re-did his belt with as subtly as he could possibly manage, and then they forced their way back out of the bushes.

They decided to find a café to duck into so they could each wash up, try to rid their clothes from any dirt that might be there, and grab a bottle of water. Once that was done, they made their way to the restaurant Rita had picked for them to meet at.

Over dinner, Rita showed off the photos she’d snapped on the hike, Peter- well, it was supposed to be Emery, at least in front of Jet- commenting on them as she went. Jet described the views and some of the fun things they’d come across on the way, and Juno nodded along to what he was saying.

Then, Juno explained how their day went, focusing mainly on the art gallery and leaving out the public sex entirely. Rita yelled out loud when Juno explained that the flowers’ he was carrying around were given to him by Emery.

The restaurant wasn’t a particularly fast one and they ate slowly too, talking the whole time. By the time they were finished, the sun was starting to set, which was perfect timing. 

After leaving the restaurant, they climbed in Jet’s rented vehicle to drive back up to the mountains to a spot known for stargazing.

Rita brought them blankets, and sweaters, although the air was still warm. When they all got out of the car, Juno accepted a blanket from Rita and took it to a flat spot of the clearing they were in, spreading it out on the ground.

“Too bad it’s illegal to have a fire up here,” Rita said, “it would be so much fun to roast marshmallows, and share ghost stories! Oh, and it would be just like this stream I watched!”

Everyone settled in to watch the sunset as Rita recounted the plot of the stream, her story eventually trailing off as she leaned her head on Jet’s shoulder. Jet gave her a fond smile.

Juno hummed in thought, staring out at the sun as he leaned back on his palms, “It’s certainly different than the sunset outside of the Mars dome… both are better than the sunset _inside_ the Mars dome, though,” Juno observed.

“Wait, when were you _outside_ the Mars dome?” Emery asked, fixing Juno with a look. Juno pressed his lips together.

“Oh, right, I guess I didn’t tell you,” Juno said, not even bothering to look sheepish. “It was only for, like, one night.”

“Juno, the _radiation_ ,” Peter said, genuinely concerned, his eyebrows knitting.

“You’re such a worrywart, Emmy,” Juno scoffed. “I’m fine! Besides, Buddy and Vespa are still alive, they were both out there for years.”

“Not for lack of trying, I would remind you,” Jet piped up, and Juno pulled a face that said ‘yikes’.

“Yeah, fair- Anyway, I don’t have radiation poisoning! The sunset on Earth is beautiful, don’t you think, babe?” Juno said, looking back out to the sun so he could catch the last few rays.

“It is,” Emery muttered, his face pinched as he leaned forward to rest his own head on Juno’s shoulder. He didn’t say it wasn’t as beautiful as Juno, but he thought it as loudly as he could.

They watched the sun go down, listening to nothing but the humming of bugs and the breeze of the wind, plus their own quiet breathing.

The stars started to litter the sky, and they drifted in and out of idle conversation, usually started by and ending with Rita. Eventually, she decided to play some “mood music” from her comms, soft songs on a Playlist aptly named “music to stargaze to”.

“It’s nice, on Earth,” Juno murmured some time later, lowering himself to lie on his back. Emery lied down next to him.

“The sky?” Emery asked, looking from Juno’s face to the stars again.

“I meant, like, in general, actually. But the views are nice, too,” Juno said. Peter sighed wistfully.

If he were being honest with himself, which he tried to be, even if he was never honest with anyone else- he knew was not enacting a role. He was doubtful Jet would be listening, as he and Rita were currently engaged in their own conversation.

“This is your first time on Earth, right?” Peter asked, voice soft. He shifted onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow.

“Yeah. I haven’t traveled a lot, really. I’m actually kind of a homebody, with Hyperion,” Juno explained, playing with a loose thread in the lace at the bottom of his shirt. “You’ve been all over, hm?” Juno lifted his eye to look at Peter, face open.

“I have,” Peter whispered. “I do have a particular fondness for Earth, though,” Peter mused, looking back up at the stars, shifting onto his back again.

“Oh?” Juno murmured. Peter was gazing upwards, for a moment, but he turned his head and caught Juno’s eyes. He smiled, soft and utterly beautiful.

“I don’t know exactly what it is,” Peter replied softly, lifting a hand to gesture as he spoke, looking into the sky once more. “Something about Earth, it just.. it feels like home.” 

“It’s not your home, though?” Juno asked, taking his turn to shift onto his side to look at Peter. Peter turned his neck and looked at him again.

“No.” 

“Where _is_ your home?” Juno asked, lowering his voice further. They were already talking quietly, but he had the mind to think Peter wouldn’t want to share those sort of details with anyone else. Maybe he wouldn’t want to share them with Juno, either.

“Brahma,” Peter stated plainly, returning his gaze to the stars. Juno nodded. “But, in a way, isn’t Earth home to all of us?” Peter asked, gesturing up towards the sky again. “The birthplace of humanity. We all come from her, from one ancestor or another,” Peter paused. “There is something here that makes me think of… belonging,” Peter whispered, a certain passion in his voice. There was melancholy there, too.

“I… I think I understand,” Juno whispered back, and Peter finally looked back at him again. Juno moved forward, unthinking, and pressed his lips to Peter’s. Peter kissed him back.

Juno curled into Peter, resting his head on Peter’s upper chest and wrapping an arm firmly around his middle. Peter held him tight in return.

“It’s funny. Traveling by spaceship, we get so many views of the stars… there is something special about seeing them from the ground, though,” Juno murmured, and he felt Peter nod.

“It’s… beautiful,” Peter said. Juno leaned up to kiss along his jaw, and Peter ran his hand up and down Juno’s back. “There are beautiful views, all over the galaxy, in fairness,” he chuckled. “The closest thing I truly have to a home, at this point, is in fact among the stars. It makes for an interesting home life, I will say- but many beautiful views all the same.” Juno nodded, this time.

“Yeah, nothing like a little interplanetary travel to put into perspective just how much I _haven’t_ seen,” Juno murmured. “My brother thinks he’s got wanderlust, but he’s almost as bad as me,” he mused, drawing shapes on Peter’s chest with a finger. “I mean, we’re both busy, with our respective jobs, but he’s never made a move to go on the cross-galaxy escapades he’s always said he wanted to go on.”

“Well,” Peter started, licking his lips. “Leaving home can be scary, can it not? When all you know is unknown, that’s one thing, but- if you have normal, if you have comfort… why would you want to leave it?”

“I don’t know if I’d call Hyperion comforting,” Juno lifted his head with a hum, “I guess, though, the familiarity in and of itself is comforting.”

“Yes, exactly,” Peter replied. Juno sighed wistfully.

Then, his comms buzzed, and Juno rolled off Peter to grab it from his bag, sitting up. Peter pushed himself up as well. “Shit, speak of the devil,” Juno said, looking at his communication device.

“Hyperion City itself is calling you?” Peter asked, a bit loudly compared to the rest of their conversation.

“Oh, can it,” Juno snipped with absolutely no venom. “Hey, Benten,” Juno said as he answered his comms.

“Hey Juno!” Benzaiten said from the speaker, “how’s it going? What time is it there on Earth?”

“It’s, like, the middle of the night, actually,” Juno said, not bothering to check the time.

“Oh, oops! I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

“Ben, you know damn well I wouldn’t be asleep at midnight,” Juno said, and his brother laughed from the other end of the call.

“Asked and answered.”

“I’m actually out stargazing,” Juno said, then he looked behind him at Rita and Jet, a few feet away on their own blanket. His call evidently caught their attention. “I’ve got Emmy here-“

“Who?”

“Emery,” Juno said more slowly, furrowing his brows, “ _Ben,_ c’mon.”

“Ooooh, the boytoy!”

“ _Benzaiten!”_ Juno said, and Peter tilted his head back and laughed. “You’re on speaker!”

“He knows I’m kidding. Hey, Emery!”

“Hello Benzaiten,” Peter piped up. He supposed he should be trying to be Emery, but, he also had to assume Juno had informed his brother of, well, everything. Peter hadn’t seen Benzaiten in two years.

Juno huffed, “And, Rita and Jet are here,” he said.

“HI BEN!” Rita yelled. Jet paused just a moment before adding, “Hello, Benzaiten.”

“Sounds like a party! Wish I was there,” Ben said, and he sounded genuinely glum for a second.

“You’ve still got two more shows, right?” Juno asked.

“Yeah,” Ben heaved a loud sigh. “A wedding sounds more fun, though.”

“Sucks to be you,” Juno said, and Benzaiten laughed.

“You’re so mean, Juno.”

“Guilty,” Juno shrugged.

“What’d you get up to today?” Ben asked. Juno glanced at Peter and paused.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Juno muttered, and then he cleared his throat. “Em and I went to an art gallery, Rita and Jet went for a hike,” Juno explained.

“It was so beautiful, Benten,” Rita said, crawling a bit closer so she could hear the conversation better. “The views were _amazing_ , and the trees here are so big and they’re, like, a totally different shade of green than the ones that grow on Mars which is a really neat detail that you don’t necessarily pick up from the photos, and oh my _God_! When we got to the peak and looked out at the water? I took lots of photos for Emery ‘cause he asked me to, but, really the photos don’t even do it _justice_.”

“We’ll have to go back to Earth again. Next time when I can actually come,” Ben said, and Rita nodded even though the call was audio-only.

“We should! Honestly, I’m always tellin’ Mista Steel, and you know this, we make our own hours! There’s no reason we don’t take more vacations!”

“I hear you and I’m with you, Rita! Maybe now that he has _boytoy_ to distract him, you can write some trips into his schedule and he won’t realize until we’re on them,” Benzaiten suggested.

“Ben that’s _GENIUS_ ,” Rita half-screeched. 

“It absolutely is not,” Juno argued, “there’s no way I wouldn’t notice you sending me on a trip to Earth, Rita, I’m not that stupid.”

“Not stupid, boss, just lovesick!” Rita said, and Benzaiten cackled.

“I-I’m not that either,” Juno argued.

“Ouch, Juno,” Emery said, but he was smirking.

“Yeah, rude! The boytoy has feelings, you know,” Ben quipped.

“And I am feeling _attacked_ ,” Juno near-shrieked.

“Well so am I! You basically said you didn’t love me,” Emery sniffed. Peter wouldn’t be so bold, not even now. Emery had a prior relationship with Juno, after all.

“I, hey- you know, that-,” Juno floundered, and Rita, Emery, and Benzaiten all continued to yell their laughter. “Fuck all of you. Except Jet, who isn’t laughing at me,” Juno sniffed “He’s my only real friend.”

“I’m sorry the others are picking on you so relentlessly, Juno,” Jet said with a nod. Their laughter was just starting to subside, when Jet added, “You do tend to make it easy.”

Everyone laughed again, and Juno glowered. “Et tu?” he hissed, then went on, “Benzaiten, this is all your fault! We were having a fine time before you called me, you asshole.”

“You love me, Juno.”

“Of course. You’re still a piece of shit,” Juno said, and Ben laughed again.

“Yeah, fair,” he said, with an amused sigh. “Well, now my stomach hurts from laughing.”

“Fuck you,” Juno snapped again.

“So, I’m satisfied! I guess I’ll let you go, Juno,” Ben said.

“Ugh. You’re the worst.”

“What, you want me to stay on the line and keep tormenting you? I know you’re a glutton for punishment, Juno, but yeesh.”

“No, you’re right, we’re done here,” Juno said. “Fuck you and goodnight, Benten.”

“Have fun stargazing, Juno,” Benzaiten said, voice still chipper. “Goodnight!” he sung. 

“Yeah, yeah. Break a leg at your next performance, Ben,” Juno said. “Everyone, say goodnight to my asshole of a twin,” Juno announced, so the other three chorused their goodbyes.

Ben bid goodbye to the three of them, as well, and then cleared his throat. “Love you, Juno.”

“I love you too,” Juno said. Then, after a moment, he added, “dick.” Benzaiten laughed, and then hung up.

Juno huffed and placed his comms back in his bag. Peter pressed his lips together, trying to keep from smirking.

“Don’t think I don’t hold the two of you just as accountable as Benten,” Juno said, eyeing Peter and Rita.

“Awh, we’re just havin’ fun, Mista Steel,” Rita said. Peter just snickered, covering his mouth with his hand.

“Yeah, yeah,” Juno said, then he sighed, and leaned back on his hands. Rita flashed him a smile, and then went back over to her spot next to Jet.

“I agree with Rita, it was all in good fun,” Peter said lightly, bumping his shoulder with Juno’s.

“I know,” Juno mumbled, his cheeks still a bit warm from the embarrassment. “Anyway, where were we?” Juno asked, pressing his cheek to Peter’s shoulder.

“Talking about our concepts of home, particularly how they differ. I’m not sure about you, but I was contemplating the insignificance of my life in the grand scheme of the universe, as well,” Peter said, leaning back just as Juno was, pressing a kiss to the side of his head.

“Oh, right. Geeze,” Juno muttered. “Yeah,” he sighed, looking back up at the stars. “We are pretty insignificant, huh?”

“To the universe, yes,” Peter said. “Not to each other, though,” he murmured. Juno looked up at him, again, and Peter kissed him. Juno smiled against his lips.

“Do you mean, like, humans in general are significant to each other? Or that we’re significant to each other, personally, you and I?” Juno asked.

“I plead the fifth,” Peter murmured, and Juno laughed at him.

“You can’t do that!” Juno argued, voice teasing.

“Why not?” Peter asked, bumping his nose against Juno’s. Juno kissed him, again, pressing closer. “Juno, you’re going to knock me over,” he murmured.

“Lie back down, then I can’t push you anymore,” Juno said quietly. Peter shrugged and muttered “okay”, so they shifted their position. Juno put his head back on Peter’s chest, and Peter wrapped his arms around Juno once more.

Peter wondered if Juno could hear his heart beating. Surely, he could. He wondered if Juno would know it was at a faster rate than usual, and if he knew what that meant.

Juno didn’t comment on Peter’s heartrate. He just hummed to himself as Peter rubbed Juno’s back slowly. Peter wanted, to badly, to say right then and there that he loved Juno. He shouldn’t do it, and he wouldn’t. He wanted to, though.

They stayed out for another half hour, at least, stargazing and murmuring to each other, periodically kissing deeply, before they slowly started to pack up their things along with Rita and Jet.

They all climbed into the rental car, and Jet drove them back to the hotel. They laid down to sleep, but they stayed up a while longer just chatting about things. Peter teased out some details about Juno’s favourite spots in Hyperion, and Peter told Juno about the top ten most beautiful views he’d seen during his galaxy-trotting.

Of course, Peter left out the minor detail that the number one most beautiful sight he’d beheld was Juno’s smile. He rationalized that, clearly, they were talking about sights as in _sightseeing_ , and people did not count.

They fell asleep sometime in the early hours of the morning, holding each other’s hands as they drifted into slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Juno have sex in a public park (they do not get caught). Juno refers to himself as a "good girl" and a "dirty slut" and Peter also refers to him this way, so if that might bother you feel free to scroll thru quickly!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you're reading this as it uploads, mind the tags on this one ;P. also just a tiny warning, I guess- Juno and Peter joke around about choking each other during some flirtatious bickering (but they do not actually do it)

Juno and Peter slept in much later the next morning, in part because they’d stayed up so late the night before.

Upon checking his comms, Juno saw Rita had left a few messages, explaining that she was going to breakfast with Jet and that this was their scheduled relaxing day, so they had appointments at the spa in the morning and would be going to the pool in the afternoon.

Juno relayed this information to Peter, and they agreed to take it easy for what little was left of the morning. Juno messaged Rita back, saying they would meet her and Jet at the pool later on.

They took turns in the bathroom and lounged around today. Like the day before, they flirted the whole time.

After getting some food and much-needed coffee downstairs, they headed to the gigantic pool with the swim up bar where Rita said she and Jet would be.

First thing, Juno and Peter got some drinks. Then, they swam over to find Rita.

When they spotted her, she was holding onto a pink floatie and chatting with Jet.

“Oh hi!!” Rita greeted, her eyes locking on Juno's. “I was just telling Jet, I wanna play _chicken!”_

“Hey, I'm good, how are you," Juno said with a little chuckle. Rita just rolled her eyes at him.

"Yeah, yeah," Rita said. "Whattaya say, boss? Chicken?" 

"I mean, I wasn’t _going_ to get my hair wet, buuuut... I’m down,” Juno agreed. Rita looked excited, and Juno looked over at Emery with a hopeful expression.

“Sounds like fun!” Emery smiled. “Tell me, dear detective, what, exactly, is… _chicken_?”

Juno snickered, “Oh. Uh, do you remember when we first walked in here and there were four people, two stacked on the other’s shoulders, and the two on top were trying to push each other into the water?”

“I do indeed. It looked barbaric,” Emery said, though Peter definitely agreed. He was honestly giving up on trying to keep a distinction between his identities, especially since it was only for Jet’s sake at this point. His eyebrows we pushed upwards in skepticism.

“Yeah, that’s chicken,” Juno said, pressing his lips together to stop himself from laughing at Peter’s expression. “You don’t have to play,” he said, but he was pouting a little.

“No, I will,” Peter waved a hand. Juno grinned at him.

“Alright! I’m with Jet,” Rita said, letting go of her floatie and launching herself towards him. Jet held out his arms as if to catch her, so she swam into them and laughed happily. 

“Okay, do you want to be bottom, or top?” Juno asked. Peter’s fixed him with a sharp grin. “Oh, fuck off,” Juno said, and Peter tilted his head back to laugh. “Grow up,” Juno snapped. 

“Well, I am taller, Juno,” Peter said, glancing over as Jet ducked down so Rita could get on his shoulders. “I can be on bottom,” he said, and then lowered his voice, adding, “ _for once_.”

“Shut up,” Juno repeated, putting his hands on Peter’s chest, “or I’ll shut you up,” he said with a little smirk, and Peter just stuck out his tongue.

“Darling, we’re in public,” Peter said, and then he lowered his voice again, “though if you wish to choke me when we get back to the room.. you need only ask,” and Juno sputtered. Then, Peter leaned down to kiss him. Juno kissed him back, murmuring “fuck off” against his lips, this time. 

“Are we playing, or what?!” Rita yelled, after giving them a moment. Juno scoffed.

“Yeah, yeah!” Juno said. “Get down, Emmy,” Juno demanded, pushing on Peter’s shoulders.

“As you wish,” Peter said, and he let Juno climb on top of his shoulders. He slowly rose and Juno yelped only a little bit. 

“You know, you would think the two of you are the couple who are about to be married,” Jet observed with a good-natured smile, “with how touchy-feely you are.”

“As if,” Juno grumbled.

“Not quite yet,” Emery said, patting Juno’s thigh on his shoulder.

“I mean, they _are_ in the honeymoon stage,” Rita stated matter-of-factly. “Now, let’s get this shit started!” she yelled. They moved closer so Rita and Juno could lock hands.

Juno and Peter won the first time, somehow. Rita came back with a vengeance, because she and Jet won the next two. Juno and Peter won the next time, so Rita demanded they break the tie with a 5th round.

Jet and Rita reigned supreme, much to Juno’s chagrin. Peter offered to buy him a drink as a consolation, so they swam up to the bar and took a while to sit and chat there.

After finishing their drinks, they went back over to Rita and Jet, who were still wading and talking.

They spent a length of time just hanging around, swimming, trying not to get into splash fights with one another. It was their relaxation day, so nothing was very pressing.

Later in the afternoon, Rita pipped up with a proposal, “Hey, we were thinking we’d head to dinner in about 45 minutes? Like, we can go get changed in about a half hour and then meet back down by the restaurant!” Rita suggested. “It’s a little early, but, we’ve been up a lot longer than _some_ people.”

“Sure thing,” Juno nodded. He wasn’t _that_ hungry, but, he was sure he could eat by that time. “In that case, I’m gonna get out of the water and dry off for a while.”

“I will come with you,” Peter said. Of course.

The two of them went to their bag and toweled off before finding some chairs to claim. Peter grabbed his dainty sunglasses from the bag and put them over his eyes.

Their joined hands dangled between the two lounge chairs as Juno shut his eyes.

After about 20 minutes of just quietly basking in the sun, Juno let go of Peter’s hand and started to get up, stretching his arms above his head. Juno crumbled his towel and shoved it into the bag.

Peter took it out, folded Juno’s towel, and his own, and then put them back in the bag.

“You’re hilarious,” Juno said, and Peter perked a brow.

“It will fit better if you fold it, Juno,” Peter argued. Then, he stood up, squeezing any extra water her could from his hair

“ _You’ll_ fit better if I fold you,” Juno said, and Peter gave him an incredulous look as his arms came around Juno’s middle.

“Juno, that hardly makes sense. Though, I suppose if you mean _fold_ me to mean _bend me_ , as in, over a table,” Peter mused slowly, and Juno snickered.

“Yeah, definitely what I meant, not just something stupid I decided to say to be contrary,” Juno said, his hands coming to Peter’s chest again as they kissed. “Hey, did you mean it, about wanting to be choked, Peter?”

“Juno, _names,”_ Peter murmured, squeezing Juno at the waist and hearing a quiet “oops”. Then, Peter continued on, “And I did not say I _wanted_ to be choked, only implied I would be open to it. I’ll try anything once, you know,” Peter winked, and they kissed again.

Juno laughed against his lips, “You don’t seriously want me to believe you’ve never been choked in bed before, _Emery_?”

“Even If I _did_ want you to believe that, Juno, you wouldn’t.”

“Cryptic bastard,” Juno muttered.

“That _is_ what they call me,” Peter hummed, and they kissed again. Juno pushed his tongue into Peter’s mouth finally. 

They only pulled away when they got yelled at, again- and for once it wasn’t by Rita.

Juno’s blood ran cold when he heard the cry from across the deck,

“JUNEBUG?! Is that _you?!”_

Juno looked up, and, sure enough, Cecil Kanagawa was making a beeline over to them. “Fuck,” Juno muttered. He didn’t catch Peter’s own startled expression.

Juno let go of Peter just in time for Cecil to pull him into a hug, “Junebug, it has been entirely too long!” Cecil moved his hands to squish Juno’s cheeks, “how _are_ you doing, and who is-” Cecil gasped as he moved his rhinestone-covered sunglasses up to his hair, “ _Rex Glass?_ Look at you! _”_

“Heeeey, Cecil,” Juno greeted with a fairly obviously fake laugh. “Long time, no see, yeah.”

At that moment, Rita joined them, and Cecil grinned at her as well. Well, fuck.

“Rita, darling, you’re here too! Such a long time has passed since we all met up!”

“Hi,” Rita said, but that was about all she got in.

“Juno, _when_ did you lose an eye? I must say, it is a dashing look on you- goes _wonderfully_ with your rugged aesthetic,” Cecil nodded, looking Juno up and down. Juno loosely crossed his arms around his middle as Peter put his hand on the small of Juno’s back.

“A while back, long story,” Juno said. He opened his mouth to continue, but Cecil was fixing him with the most salacious of grins.

“Don’t think I didn’t catch you two canoolding from across the pool, you _must_ tell me, _Juno Steel,_ how did you meet _Rex Glass_?” Cecil asked, sounding almost scandalized. Rita glanced over at him and Juno gave her a meaningful look.

“As you know, Cecil,” Peter said, his voice taking on a tone Juno didn’t _quite_ recognize. They all looked at him. “My line of work takes me all over the place- but I’ve been to Hyperion City a number of times. On one of those occasions, one of my cases converged with that of my _dear_ detective, here, and well,” Peter fixed Juno with a gaze, his eyes glinting with a certain hunger, “the rest, they say, is history.”

“Oh, a _workplace romance_ , how exciting! And to think, Junebug, last time we met you’d given up on dating entirely! Just when did you get back in the game, tiger?” Cecil gave Juno a light slap on the arm and Juno resisted the urge to roll his eye.

“Well, honestly, I _wasn’t_ back in the game, but then I met Rex, and-” Juno just waved his hands in the air like that explained anything. “I dunno. Sometimes you just meet the right person, you know?”

Cecil clapped a hand over his mouth, “Oh! Juno, that’s so romantic! Well, I am happy for you, though- an Earth resort is really the last place I’d expect you to be, Junebug, you’re normally such a _workaholic_ when you’re not, well..” Cecil waved a hand as if they’d all understand what he was alluding to.

“Yeah, uh, we’re here for a wedding,” Juno said, and Cecil tilted his head.

“So am _I!_ Whose wedding is it?”

“Buddy Aurinko?” Juno said, and Cecil gasped again.

“Really?! Me too!”

“Oh, you know Buddy Aurinko?” Juno asked, his chin pulling back in surprise.

“Who _doesn’t_ know Buddy Aurinko, Juno, honestly,” Cecil waved his hand again.

“I meant, like, personally?” Juno tilted his head.

“So did I!” Cecil insisted.

“In fairness, I didn’t even know she existed until I met her,” Juno added, as an afterthought.

“Oh Junebug, you’ve always been so funny!” Cecil said, tipping his head back and laughing.

“I don’t really, yeah- whatever,” Juno muttered, and Cecil slapped him on the arm again. “Well,” Juno cleared his throat. “We have to meet someone else for supper, so.. Rex, Rita, we should go.”

“Oh, yes, don’t let me hold you up, Junebug! But we will have to catch up. I want _all_ the details of how you and Rex got together. You’ll have to save a dance for me, at the wedding, or- we can get coffee the morning after. If we’re awake. Better make it afternoon, actually,” Cecil hummed. “Anyhoo! Toodles, darlings!”

“See you, Cecil,” Juno said, and he hooked one arm in Peter’s and picked up their bag with the other one. Rita fetched her bag as well, and they walked into the building.

As they walked inside, Juno pushed his body against Peter’s shoulder, hissing “ _Rex Glass?”_ into his ear with a devilish snicker.

“Hush, Juno,” Peter hissed back, lifting his hand to the back of Juno’s neck. “I’ll be the one choking you, yet,” Peter muttered.

“Please do,” Juno mumbled back, and Peter shot him a look that was somehow both incredulous and interested.

As soon as they reached their room, Rita scampered off to her room saying she didn’t want to be Late. Juno spun on Peter and put his fingers over his lips. “ **Rex Glass**??” he asked again, tilting his head back and covering his mouth as he cackled.

“I don’t understand what’s so funny, Juno,” Peter said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Rex Glass, Duke Rose, Elias Slate, Emery Valentine, Peter… whoever,” Juno said, reaching forward and skimming his hands along Peter’s sides, “you’re just… fascinating.”

“Glad to see you think of this as humorous. Juno, what happens if Cecil Kanagawa is talking to Jet, or Buddy, or Vespa, and our little secret is exposed?”

Juno bit his lip and thought, for a moment. “Well. Who is Rex Glass?” Juno asked, tilting his head.

“A Dark Matters Agent, from quite a few years ago.”

Juno’s nose scrunched up at the mention of Dark Matters. “Oh, ew. I’d never date a Dark Matters agent,” Juno scoffed.

“Well, good thing you’re not actually dating Rex Glass! You’re dating Emery, who works for a private investigation company with wealthy clients.”

“Honestly, that might not work out long term, either,” Juno pointed out, and Peter narrowed his eyes at him.

“Yes, yes, you’re very easy to outrage, morally speaking, I’ve learned this. Eat the rich, all that. Perhaps you will turn Emery onto a better path, if your relationship lasts but-” Peter cut himself off with a huff, “Juno, Emery doesn’t exist!”

“And we aren’t actually dating,” Juno reminded them gently, and Peter pressed his lips together.

“No,” Peter said. “Still, I can’t be both Rex Glass and Emery Valentine at the same time.”

“It’s fine, Peter,” Juno said, “I doubt Cecil is going to be talking about _me_ to Buddy, and.. I’m not sure Jet could even talk to Cecil for more than a few minutes before running for the hills. We have nothing to worry about, chill out.”

“Juno, I have never been chill a day in my life,” Peter said in a grave voice. Juno laughed.

“Really? You seem pretty calm and collected, like, most of the time,” Juno pointed out.

“I am very good at my job,” Peter pressed his lips in a thin line and Juno just tilted his head.

“Right,” Juno said. Before they could figure out a way to cut the tension in the air, Rita did that for them.

“You two ain’t even dressed yet? We’re supposed to meet Jet in five minutes!”

“You go on ahead, Rita,” Juno said, “It’s fine if we’re a little late.”

“I just don’t want Jet to have to start eatin’ alone,” Rita said, nodding. “Okay, then, I’ll see you two down there!”

“See you, Rita,” Peter said. He turned his sullen gaze back to Juno as they wandered into their room.

“Hey,” Juno said, “seriously, it will be okay. If it seems like your cover is gonna get blown, you can leave, and I can, like, pay you extra for the inconvenience?”

“That won’t be necessary, Juno,” Peter said, swallowing all the emotions and stress he’d was experiencing.

Juno picked up a t-shirt that was not black, but dark purple, and put it on. Peter started to get changed, as well.

“You’re not, like, mad at me, are you?” Juno asked, stepping in front of Peter. Peter placed his hands on Juno’s hips.

“No, I’m not mad, dear,” Peter said. They weren’t dating. He knew that. Juno placed his hands on Peter’s neck and kissed him. Peter kissed back. “Though, I will enjoy choking you later on tonight,” Peter said with a dark chuckle.

“Not if I choke you first,” Juno said, pinching the skin on Peter’s neck.

“It would _not_ be wise to try to choke one another at the same time,” Peter hummed.

“Are you saying that from experience?” Juno asked, tilting his head.

“Just _logic_ , dear detective,” Peter said, and Juno chuckled.

“Ew,” he said, and Peter huffed at him.

“Juno, your job is based entirely on deductive logic, what do you mean ‘ew’?” Peter asked, kissing Juno on the tip of the nose. Juno chuckled lightly.

“I’m not on the clock,” Juno argued. “Besides, nobody likes doing their job!”

“Well, you got me there,” Peter murmured.

“Except you, when you have to date me, for a job,” Juno said, and Peter nodded.

“Of course, Juno,” Peter said, and they kissed again. Peter skimmed his hand under the t-shirt Juno had just put on.

Juno pressed up closer to Peter, before breaking off their kiss. “We should… probably get going to dinner.”

“Hm, we should, yes,” Peter said, and then he caught Juno’s lips in a kiss again. Peter felt Juno run his fingers through his still-damp hair.

“I’m sure… Rita and Jet won’t miss us too sorely, though.” Juno mumbled. Peter breathed a laugh against his lips.

Then, Juno walked them back towards the bed, and pushed Peter onto it.

“Ooh, detective,” Peter purred, “did you take it to heart, what I said about you never being _on top_?”

“Yes,” Juno said climbing onto to Peter and kissing down his neck. Peter tilted his head back to allow him more space.

“I won’t complain,” Peter said. A few moments into their kissing, as Juno started to roll his hips against Peter’s hardening cock, and Peter murmured, “You didn’t happen to bring a strap-on, hm?”

Juno sat up again perked a brow. “No,” Juno said, biting his lip. “Dammit." 

“Well,” Peter hummed, thinking, “I may have, anyway.”

“You _may_ have?” Juno asked, sitting up fully, pressing his hips forward again. Peter moved his hands to Juno’s ass and ground up against him. Juno stifled a moan, “What? Are you being coy, or do you not know?”

“Yes,” Peter said, and Juno scoffed.

“Peter,” Juno mumbled, his voice taking on a little whine as Peter pulled Juno’s hips harder to his body.

“Just allow me to check. I usually have a harness with me and at least one or two accessories,” Peter said, and Juno let out a breathy sigh before he got off Peter’s lap.

Peter, indeed, had a harness and a strap-on in his luggage, so. That was fun.

“You want me to fuck you?” Juno asked, biting down on his lip.

“Only if _you_ want to,” Peter said, and Juno nodded eagerly.

“Um, yeah,” Juno said. Peter didn’t bother to mask his eagerness. 

“Well then, I can go rinse this off. We can still use a condom to be extra safe,” Peter said, holding the base of a lavender dildo. “I will be back in a jiffy!”

While Peter was gone, Juno took his shirt off again, and slipped off the pants he’d just gotten changed into. He left on his undershorts for the time being, and laid across the bed.

Peter returned a fair few minutes later, also in nothing but his underwear, and Juno bit back the urge to tease him about primping. 

Juno stood up, and grabbed the harness and dildo from Peter to arrange it on his hips.

“It’s been too long since this got any use,” Peter said conversationally, “it does look good on you, Juno.”

Juno grabbed a condom and some lube from his table, then stuck his tongue out with a smirk, “I mean, hey- if I’d known you had it, I would’ve suggested using it earlier.”

“Fair enough,” Peter blushed, and Juno approached to pull him close by the waist. Juno kissed him, hard.

Then, they moved back to the bed and Juno pushed Peter down a second time, climbing on top of him yet again. 

“Let me know if you wanna stop, okay?” Juno told him, “or if you need something adjusted, whatever.”

“Of course,” Peter said, and Juno kissed him again. Peter groaned against his lips as Juno rocked their hips together without much regard for the strap.

Juno pulled back to kiss along Peter’s jaw, one hand beside Peter’s head and the other on Peter’s waist, slowly making its way down to Peter’s thigh and brushing towards the inside of his leg.

“Also,” Peter murmured, as Juno kissed his neck and skimmed his fingers back Peter’s thigh, now, “ _Junebug_?” he asked, the smirk evident in his voice.

“Shut up,” Juno said immediately, biting down on Peter’s skin gently. Peter titled his neck and laughed.

“If _biting_ is a punishment- I’m afraid, dear, that it’s not going to have the intended effect,” Peter said.

“You like being choked _and_ bitten, hm?” Juno asked, licking up the side of Peter’s jaw with a smirk on his face.

“I still have not said I _like_ being choked,” Peter argued, and Juno hummed.

“You absolutely haven’t said you _don’t_ like being choked, Peter.”

“Fair enough,” Peter said. At that moment, Juno pulled back a bit, his fingers skimming over Peter’s cock before he moved down to brush against Peter’s hole. Peter made a soft, throaty noise that went straight to Juno’s core.

Juno sat up, and grabbed the lube from beside them. “Are you okay with having me prep you?” Juno asked, and Peter nodded.

“If you wish.”

“It would be my pleasure, dear,” Juno said in a very loose approximation of Peter’s cadence.

“Was that supposed to be me? My, you’re taking this role-swap awfully serious, Juno,” Peter said with a laugh as Juno poured some lube out and began to warm it. “Also. I may have gotten a _very_ quick head start,” he said, and Juno smiled.

“Naughty,” Juno said, sticking out his tongue once again.

“I thought I was being helpful,” Peter retorted, and then he hummed as Juno brushed his fingers along his hole against. Peter adjusted his hips just slightly, and bit down on his lip.

They were quiet again, for a few moments, as Juno started to prep him for real. “You’re so hot,” Juno muttered, and he slowly rubbed circles around Peter’s hole before starting to push in slowly.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” Peter bit back, in a similarly loose approximation of Juno’s voice. Juno barked a laugh, balancing himself on his knees so he could stroke Peter’s cock a couple times as he went in further with his finger.

“I don’t sound like that,” Juno murmured, looking him up and down. Peter just stuck his tongue out for a second, and then gasped softly.

“Of course not,” Peter lied.

Then, their bickering faded out as Juno stretched him slowly, gently- watching Peter’s face with intent and making sure he was comfortable. He eventually added a second finger. When Peter told him to go harder, and he gladly followed the instruction.

Juno eventually placed his hand next to Peter’s side and bent over him, pausing to make sure the angle of his hand was still good, and kissed down Peter’s chest and then back up to his collar. When Juno added a third finger, Peter’s hand came to Juno’s bicep, gripping him and letting out breathy little moans.

“Juno,” Peter eventually gasped, “I’m ready when you are.”

Juno smirked, and slowed his fingers, pulling them out and then pulling back. “Don’t have to tell me twice,” he said. Peter nodded.

Juno grabbed the condom and lube again, rolling it onto the strap. “It’s been a liiiittle while since I’ve used one of these too, okay? Let me know if something’s not good,” he reminded, and Peter nodded.

Juno lubed up the lavender cock and then brought himself closer to Peter, leaning down to kiss him for a few seconds before sitting up to take the strap in his hand and push into Peter slowly.

Peter whined in the back of his throat, shutting his eyes tightly and digging his nails into Juno’s thigh as he did so.

“You good, babe?”

“Yes,” Peter breathed out, “I’m fine. Keep going- slowly, though,” Peter said. Juno just nodded and pressed his hips forward.

Juno didn’t miss having a cock, but, it _would_ be easier if he could feel what he was doing with the strap. No matter. He watched Peter’s face carefully, and pushed all the way in. He watched Peter breathe, and then nod his head.

Juno moved his hips back slowly and then rocked them forward gently. Peter tilted his neck back and expose his beautiful, elegant throat. Juno wanted to kiss him, but he didn’t want to risk changing the angle too soon or so quickly. Instead, Juno wrapped his palm around Peter’s cock again and stroked slowly and lazily, hearing Peter stifle a moan.

“You’re breathtaking,” Juno said, and Peter glanced up at him for a second with a tiny smile. It was adorable.

“Detective.. you may move more than that,” Peter said, and Juno snorted inelegantly.

“And here I am, trying to be nice,” Juno muttered, but then he placed his hands on Peter’s hips and rocked his own a little more forcefully, making Peter’s breath hitch.

“You’re always nice,” Peter told him, voice just a bit strained as he groaned, wrapping one of his legs around Juno and pulling him forward just a bit more.

“Now we _both_ know that’s not true,” Juno laughed, adjusting himself just a bit more so his hands were on the bed next to Peter. Peter just made a face at his words. “Is this okay?”

“Yes,” Peter hissed, and Juno nodded before thrusting again, eventually setting a pace that Peter seemed to like, based on his gasps and breathy moans.

Juno bit his lip as he watched Peter’s face again. He slowed enough to lean back and take Peter’s cock in his hand, stroking him at a pace that matched his thrusts as best he could.

“God, Juno,” Peter whined, and Juno smirked down at him.

“You almost ready to come for me, baby?” Juno asked quietly, and Peter nodded, biting down on his lip.

“Yes,” Peter choked out, and Juno pushed his hips a little harder, speeding up his hand on Peter’s cock, until Peter came with a cry.

Juno slowly drew back, watching Peter arch his back and shift. Peter reached for him as Juno laid down on his side, curling up next to him.

“Good?” Juno asked, gazing down at him with a fond smile. Peter’s eyes were shut.

“Fantastic,” Peter told him, pressing his forehead to Juno’s chest. Juno brushed his knuckles along Peter’s arm for a moment.

They laid liked that, for a couple minutes, before Juno started to shift.

“I’ll be right back, baby,” Juno said, and Peter frowned up at him. “Don’t give me that look, princess _,_ I just have to wash up and take care of _this_ ,” Juno gestured to the strap-on, still around his waist. “I won’t be long, I promise!”

Peter just sighed dramatically, placing his hand on Juno’s arm lightly and letting is drag down as Juno pulled himself away. “I’ll miss you!” Peter called out as Juno shoved a robe onto his shoulders and walked to the bathroom. Juno just laughed.

Juno took off the harness and rinsed the accessory, washed his hands, and then tightened the robe around his body. He made sure to **_not_** leave the lavender dildo in the bathroom they shared with his secretary.

Then, he made his way back to the bedroom, taking in the sight of Peter lounging on the bed, eyes closed.

Juno undid the robe he was wearing and tossed it towards the chair in their room, and Peter moved onto his back and pushed himself onto his palms.

Peter smiled as Juno crawled on the bed to him and settled in his lap again. Peter lifted one hand to place on Juno’s neck and kiss him deeply.

“I want to taste you, Juno,” Peter mumbled against his lips, and Juno bit Peter’s lower lip.

“That can be arranged,” Juno muttered, kissing him again. “How do you want me?”

“Whatever is most comfortable for you,” Peter said.

“Mhhh. I’ve been on top long enough,” Juno laughed, climbing off of Peter, and throwing himself onto the bed. 

Peter laughed, and then said, “You’re stunning." He pushed himself up to look over Juno and fixed him with an adoring gaze.

Juno glanced away from him as Peter moved to come between Juno’s legs, and then leaned over to kiss him. Juno kissed back, tangling a hand in Peter’s hair.

Peter didn’t waste much time, though, pressing kisses down Juno’s neck and to his chest, his hand caressing Juno’s side before moving to his stomach.

Juno tilted his head back, a mirror of Peter’s earlier poses as he moaned, throaty.

Peter glanced up and smirked, and then moved further down Juno’s body, kissing at his navel as he hooked his fingers in the band of Juno’s underwear.

“Peter,” Juno groaned, and he lifted his hips to help Peter get his underwear off. Peter threw them somewhere and Juno spread his legs wide, as Peter moved back so he could lean forward and kiss up the inside of Juno’s thighs.

Peter squeezed Juno’s thighs with his hands as he moved up to kiss Juno at the hips, humming softly.

“Fucking tease,” Juno said, and Peter laughed.

“My darling Goddess, you think _this_ is me teasing you?” Peter said as he fixed Juno with a lusty gaze. “Yes, we have been understandably eager to hop into bed with one another- but just you wait until I’m capable of showing any amount of _restraint,_ ” Peter smirked at him as he used one finger to part the lips of Juno’s cunt, rubbing a circle around his clit.

“I’ll look forward to it,” Juno breathed, “later. Now, though, I’m gonna need you to use that pretty mouth of yours a little differently.”

“My, still so cocky,” Peter said, and Juno hummed. “But as the lady demands, I shall do,” Peter pressed another open-mouthed kiss to Juno’s thigh before using to fingers to push his folds open and expose his clit before leaning forward and lapping at him with his tongue.

Peter felt Juno’s hand come to his hair and heard Juno moan loudly as he played with Juno’s clit with the tip of his tongue. Then, he pressed a little harder, hearing Juno gasp.

Peter licked all the way down, lapping at the wetness, and then he went back up, pushing his tongue against Juno’s clit again and relishing in the gasp and the tightened grip on his hair.

Peter continued to eat Juno out with eagerness, sucking on his clit until Juno was panting and crying out, bucking up into his mouth.

Peter brought his hands to Juno’s thighs to encourage this, until Juno twisted his fingers in Peter’s hair and gasped, keeping Peter still as he came.

Peter moved slowly once Juno sagged back into the bed, panting. He sat up and this time, Juno reached for him, and Peter laid his body over Juno’s and met Juno in an admittedly sloppy kiss.

“Mhh, god, Peter,” Juno muttered, and Peter just pushed his tongue back into Juno’s mouth without comment.

Juno squeezed Peter’s hips between his knees and Peter pulled back to smile at Juno.

“As delicious as you are, Juno… it’s just occurred to me that I am _very_ hungry for, well, you know.. food,” Peter said, and Juno laughed.

“Fuck, we skipped out on Rita and Jet entirely, huh?”

“That we did, dear detective.”

“We should probably go eat,” Juno muttered. He kissed Peter again, before dropping his arms from around him and letting Peter pull away.

Juno took the first turn in the washroom, and then got re-redressed. Peter went to the bathroom second, then was left in the bedroom to get dressed.

During that time, Rita arrived back to their hotel living room.

“Oh, you two are still here?” Rita asked, eying Juno suspiciously as he waited for Peter to finish getting dressed from his spot in the living room. 

“Would you believe it if I said we, uh, got lost in a riveting conversation?” Juno asked, patting his pockets to make sure he had his comms and wallet, just in case.

“Not for a second,” Rita said.

“Fair,” Juno said. “Yeah, we were-”

“I _don’t_ need the details,” Rita said sharply. “As long as you had fun, and are usin’ protection.”

“You know it,” Juno said with a little smirk.

Then, Peter walked out of the bedroom, and came up to Juno’s side with a contented sigh. “Hello, Rita,” he said, and she smiled at him.

“Hi, Mista Valentine,” Rita said. There was something about her eyes that was mysterious to him.

“Are you ready?” Juno asked, and Peter nodded. They bid goodbye to Rita, and made their way back down to the restaurant.

They sat together and talked, idly, about the food, what they liked, and how it compared to the real restaurant they’d been to the day prior.

At the end of dinner, Juno got a call from Benzaiten that he went to take alone, since he’d only gotten a few minutes to talk to Ben the other night, and he wanted the chance to actually catch up. Peter kissed him on the cheek and said he’d meet him back at their hotel room. He planned to take a little walk on the beach.

As he was walking out of the restaurant, Peter had his hands in his pockets and a pleasant expression on his lips- up until he almost walked straight into Buddy, who was holding a cup with a lid in one hand. Dressed in a flowing sundress, she looked elegant and divine, as always.

“Oh, hello there, darling,” Buddy said, and Peter, well, _Emery_ , flashed her a good-natured smile.

“My apologies, Ms. Aurinko, I almost ran into you.”

Buddy waved her hand, “It was I that wasn’t watching where I was going,” she assured him. “Say. Mr. Valentine, right?”

“That is I,” Emery gave a nod.

“Would you like to join me for some evening tea here on the deck?” she asked. Peter knew instinctively from the look in her eye this that was not a request. 

“Of course. I’d be honored, Ms. Aurinko.”

“Please,” Buddy said, her hand coming to his shoulder blade as she walked him over to the closest drink station, “call me _Buddy_.”

“Yes, of course, Buddy,” Emery nodded. He fixed himself some tea as she walked over to a booth in the back of the outdoor dining area. The one she selected was fairly secluded.

Emery walked over with his cup in hand and sat across from Buddy. She gave him a warm smile, and Peter returned it sincerely.

Buddy sipped from her own cup, then placed it down on a coaster. “So, tell me! How have you been enjoying the trip so far?”

“Oh, immensely,” Emery said, lifting his cup delicately. He realized after only a moment he was mirroring Buddy’s posture, unintentionally. “The views are absolutely stunning. I’m quite fond of earth, as well. I am very excited for the ceremony.” He crossed one leg over the over and leaned his elbow on the arm of his café chair.

Buddy grinned at him, “As am I, of course. I am glad to hear you’ve been liking it here! We surveyed a few venues before choosing this one, I do think we made the right choice.”

“I am certain you did,” Emery said, taking another sip of his tea.

Buddy hummed, and crossed one leg over the other. “Emery Valentine,” she repeated, tone light. “A beautiful name you have. So very poetic.”

“Why, thank you,” Emery said. He met Buddy’s eye over the top of her cup, before she placed it down.

“Did it take you long, darling, to come up with?” she asked, tone just as light and conversational as before. Emery tilted his head just a smidge. They smiled at one another, nothing but polite and amicable.

“Come again, Buddy?” Emery asked, keeping his expression open and natural. She smiled just a touch wider.

“Surely, you realize that I would not have someone in attendance at my wedding who has not been properly vetted, Emery?” Buddy said with a little laugh, as if her words were as delicate as the tone she continued to speak in. “It’s my understanding that an Emery Valentine of your age and location did not exist until a few weeks ago, ergo, I know it not your _real_ name.”

“Ah,” Peter lifted his chin, still smiling politely.

“If Jet has been standoffish with you, this is the reason why. My darling fiancée knows as well, of course,” Buddy explained. Peter nodded slowly.

“Ah,” he repeated, finally looking away for just a moment. “In my defense, there is an explanation for this. Unfortunately, it is not my explanation to give,” he told her. Buddy regarded him carefully, perking a brow.

“What an intriguing statement. I don’t strictly require your explanation. It seems that our Juno quite likes you, and I trust him entirely,” Buddy said, then a smile played up on her lips. “So long as your- for lack of a better term, _intentions_ with him are not unsavory, and you have a reputable character, we shall have no issues, Emery.”

Peter was tempted to laugh, so he did, lightly. “Oh, so this is to be a ‘shovel talk’? I understand,” Peter smiled brightly and leaned forward slightly, his hands coming to his knees. “I assure you, Buddy, I intend no harm to _your_ Juno. For the record, he _does_ know who I am.”

Well, that was as close to the truth as he could get, anyway. He already knew it, but it was a little startling to think- at this point, Juno knew him better anyone else on this entire planet knew Peter Nureyev. Better than anyone in the universe. 

Buddy just smiled at him, a mysterious glint in her eye. “Ah! In that case, I am glad to hear it.” Buddy then smoothed her dress over her knee. “I’ll have you know, our detective has been much more… smiley, since he started to speak of you.”

Peter took a breath in from his nose and allowed himself to smile a normal amount. “Is that so? I will be sure _not_ to tell him you told me that, I am certain he would hate it.”

Buddy let out a laugh, “Oh, he would, indeed. But we do like to torment him so.” 

“I’ve learned this quite quickly,” Peter told her, then he pressed his lips together. Buddy was an incredibly important person in Juno’s life, that much was clear. He’d been careful, up to this point, and he should probably remain so- but he continued on, “I was truly honored when he invited me along to your wedding. Not only for what it meant between Juno and I, but, I must admit to you, Buddy… I’ve been a long-time admirer of yours. And Vespa's. Your shared legend.” 

Buddy smiled graciously. “Always pleased to meet a fan,” she said with a laugh, and Peter gave her a sharp smile. “Hmm. A nameless man who came from nowhere, his only connection- a detective I like dearly, and he is a self-proclaimed long-time admirer of a pair of thieves. Paints quite the picture, if incomplete,” Buddy said, perking a brow.

“Those are the facts, yes. But, before you draw too many conclusions, I have one more aspect of myself I’d like to reveal to you. Now, it may not come as a surprise, especially not to a woman such as yourself,” Peter explained. Buddy kept her gaze locked with his. “I am, first and foremost, a romantic.”

Buddy hummed as she thought. “You are right, that does not surprise me. I do believe I understand what you’re saying,” she said. Then, Buddy lifted up her cup. “Well, then, Emery Valentine. What has brought us together is a wedding, so I propose we toast to romance.”

“To romance,” Peter said, lifting his cup to clink with hers. It was the end of his tea, which had gone quite cold, but he drank it anyway.

“Speaking of romance,” Buddy went on, and glanced over her shoulder, “I’m sure I’ve been away from my dear Vespa far too long already. I will bid you goodnight now, darling. Thank you for the lovely chat.”

“Of course,” Peter said. “As well, it’s not lost on me that I had the chance to have a moment alone with a bride, the night before her wedding. Thank you for inviting me to take tea with you.”

Buddy flashed him another smile, perhaps the most genuine since she’d sat down.

The two of them stood up, and Buddy opened her arms. “And please, try to get some rest, before your big day,” Peter said, accepting her hug. “I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.”

“Thank you. I will be sure to get some rest,” Buddy said firmly, and she clapped her hand on Peter’s shoulder before taking her leave.

After that, Peter walked at a normal speed back to his room. Juno was on the couch with Rita, watching a stream as they both talked loudly over it.

“Hey Peter,” Juno said. They each moved to the side of the couch so Peter could come sit down between them.

“Hello Juno, Rita,” Peter greeted them.

“Why d’ya look like you’ve seen a ghost, Mista Valentine?”

“Buddy Aurinko just cornered me and demanded I sit and chat with her,” the words tumbled from his mouth before he really had time to think.

“Did she scare you?” Rita tilted her head, “I mean, she can be scary, sometimes.”

“Buddy Aurinko is implicitly terrifying to me, Rita,” Peter explained. “She’s my _idol_.”

“Oooh,” Rita said in realization, and Juno laughed.

“I told her I wouldn’t tell you this, Juno,” Peter said, plucking a piece of popcorn from Juno’s bowl as he smirked at him.

“Oh god, what?” Juno asked, moving the bowl of popcorn closer to Peter.

“She said you’ve been all _smiley_ since I’ve been around,” Peter said, the look on his face indescribable as nothing other than “shit-eating” and Rita cooed, loudly from his other side.

“That’s true, Mista Steel!”

“Shut up,” Juno said, “both of you, and Buddy. What, did you talk about me the whole time?”

“No,” Peter said, slowly. “Hm. I suppose there is no harm in telling you. In fact, I probably _should_ tell you- We’ve been found out.”

“Whattaya mean?” Juno asked, throwing some popcorn in the air and trying to catch it in his mouth. It bounced off his nose. Peter plucked it from where it landed resting on both their thighs and ate it. 

“She knows my name is not Emery Valentine. I suppose she doesn’t know that we are not _really_ dating, though. I’d say, based on the previous statement, she’s probably entirely duped on that front.”

“Aaah,” Juno said, and Rita snickered from her spot on the couch. “Well. Was she pissed, or, like, what?”

“Oh no, not at all. She wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to break your little heart,” Peter said, laying the drama on thick as he wrapped an arm around Juno and shook him. Juno tilted his head and snorted.

“Awwwhhh, that’s real sweet! Buddy is such a _mom_ ,” Rita said with a big sigh.

“My mom would never be concerned over me getting hurt by a boyfriend,” Juno pointed out, and Rita just pouted at him. “She’d probably say I deserved it for being in bed with a- never mind,” Juno cut himself off, scowling.

“I meant that in the sense that- like, she’s a _good_ mom, Mista Steel. Your mom… don’t really qualify,” Rita said, and Juno made another humourless noise of amusement in his nose.

“Not even a little bit. But. Anyway, well, at least we don’t have to worry about Cecil blowing our cover?” Juno glanced at Peter, and he nodded.

“No,” he said. “That is good.” So their whole mini-argument was for naught. They’d survived it anyway, which was nice. “By the way,” Peter looked at the monitor, “what is it you’re watching?”

And so, Rita quickly dove into an explanation as Juno went back to trying to catch popcorn in his mouth.

They settled in to talk over the stream, and then watched another, before setting alarms for the morning and heading to bed. It would be a long day, tomorrow. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alternate title of this chapter is Peter gets Pegged


	6. Chapter 6

“You know the best thing about having only one eye?” Juno asked, leaning in as he stood before the mirror in their hotel room. Peter had brought a string of lights that he’d hung around it, providing enough light to get ready so they didn’t have to crowd into the bathroom with Rita too. 

“What is that, Juno?” Peter asked.

“When you’re doing wined liner, you only have to do it once,” Juno said, holding the eyeliner pen in his hand. “Unfortunately, my depth perception is still sort of shit, so, I still usually get Rita or Ben to do it for me,” Juno grumbled, holding it close to his eye, and then faltering.

“I can do it, love,” Peter said, turning towards him. He had just finished lining his own eyes in black, and he still had to apply lipstick.

“Oh,” Juno said, and he stood up straighter and then held out the red eyeliner pen to Peter.

Peter took the pen in one hand and placed the other on Juno’s chin, holding him steady. “Look forward, Juno, and don’t move.”

Juno pulled a bit of a face, “Don’t stab me,” he said.

“Juno,” Peter tsked, “stay put. _Trust me_ ,” Peter implored. Juno pressed his lips shut and stopped moving.

Peter carefully drew a sharp wing onto Juno’s eyelid and filled it in, checking it from a couple angles and making sure it was perfectly tidy before giving a satisfied nod.

Once he was allowed to, Juno leaned in towards the mirror again. “Damn. You are good,” Juno said, and Peter laughed.

“Practice makes perfect, dear detective.”

“I guess you do wear winged eyeliner, like, every day,” Juno said, and Peter hummed. “Hey, I have a question,” Juno said, glancing over at him.

“Shoot.”

“You don’t actually need your glasses to see, do you?” Juno asked, leaning against the vanity as he glanced down at no less than three separate glasses cases beside Peter’s makeup bag. Peter laughed.

“I do not, dear detective. I got my vision corrected years ago, in fact. The glasses serve a fashionable function exclusively,” Peter explained.

“You absolute dork,” Juno muttered. “Now I know why I’ve never seen any contacts around.”

Peter gave another light chuckle, and they continued to get ready in relative quiet, until Rita bounced into their room to sit on their bed, swing her legs, and talk about how excited she was. Juno smiled over at her, and didn’t bother to kick her out before getting changed into his dress.

Peter, on the other hand, brought his suit with him to the bathroom to get changed and double-check his hair. His tie was red, matching the shade of Juno’s belt buckle. In another ten minutes or so, they headed down to the section of the beach where the wedding would be held.

The crowd was massive. As dictated by Buddy, everyone was in white and black. Any and all accents were in red.

Juno and Rita picked their seats, near the front so they could see. An old friend of Vespa’s, another medic, was going to be officiating. People filtered in for another twenty minutes or so, their chatting producing loud hum with the size of the group.

Everything fell silent, however, when music started to play. The crowd stood, and three people proceeded down the aisle.

On the left was Vespa, looking sharp in a maroon suit tailored perfectly to her body. She had a smile on her face, only a bit pinched as she stared out to the crowd.

Jet was on her arm, standing tall in a black suit. He was smiling more comfortably, looking from her, to the other bride.

Buddy took the right, on Jet’s other arm. Her dress was a rich red ballgown that flattered her skin and complemented her hair.

And looking at Buddy, she was a vision on fire. Her smile was bright as the sun she took in all the people she’d met, all the friends she'd made over the years.

When they reached the alter, Buddy and Vespa turned to one another, and Jet took each of their hands, and then brought them together. Buddy and Vespa both smiled at him, and then he stepped back.

The officiant opened the ceremony, and everyone sat down to listen attentively.

Juno held Peter’s hands, only taking his eyes off the brides for a few seconds at a time to glance over at Peter. Peter was watching attentively too, though, so their eyes met only once or twice. 

During Buddy’s vows, Peter put his arm around Juno and lifted his other hand to wipe a tear rolling down Juno’s cheek. Juno gave him a look, but Peter smiled brilliantly at him.

“I do love weddings,” Peter murmured, and Juno nodded, leaning into him. They both watched with bated breath as Vespa returned her vows. Both brides were crying just a touch. 

The clapping was _very_ loud when Buddy and Vespa finally kissed one another. Finally, they were pronounced married.

Peter squeezed Juno’s shoulder and Juno pressed his face into Peter’s neck. “They’re so beautiful,” Juno whined so only he could hear, and Peter laughed delicately.

“Here, Mista Steel,” Rita said, leaning into Peter’s space as she offered Juno a tissue from a packet she’d brought. Peter put his other arm around her, and Juno plucked the tissue from Rita with a weak glare, dabbing under his eyes. Rita folded the packet and slipped it into a hidden pocket in her dress. She smiled, leaning her head on Peter as well.

A few moments later, the marriage license had been signed, and Buddy and Vespa were getting ready to walk away from the alter, so guests were starting to stand again. Music played, and the newly wedded wives made their exit.

From there, the guests slowly made their way over to the large ballroom where they could mingle until the reception started. Rita, Juno, and Peter stuck close together.

“Emery,” Rita said, clinging to his arm, “last wedding I went to, you were my wingman and I left there with not one but _two_ beautiful ladies,” she announced, and Peter laughed. “I’m even still talkin’ to one of ‘em actually. We ain’t exclusive, though, sooo- Are you ready to work your magic again?”

“Oh, I am _ready,_ Rita dear,” Peter said, and he looked out at the sea of fancy dresses and slick suits, his eyes discerning and glinting with mirth. Rita had a hungry look in her eye, and Juno announced he was going to fetch them drinks.

By the time Juno returned, Peter and Rita were talking to a tall, broad woman in a warm white dress, and she was already making eyes at Rita. Juno held out glasses of wine and Peter and Rita each took them without missing a beat in their conversation.

Juno glanced over his shoulder, and saw Jet approach him, so he stepped away from Peter and Rita.

“Hello, Juno,” Jet greeted him with a friendly smile. Juno smiled back.

“Hey! Photos done?”

“Yes, just about. Buddy also intends to keep her camera on her and take many selfies, though. I thought I might warn you,” Jet said, and Juno chuckled.

“She would,” he said, and then he glanced back over to Peter, Rita, and the mysterious woman. She was tall, and she was looking at Rita like she might devour her any second now.

“Who is that?” Jet asked.

“Beats me. Rita said she wanted Em to help her find someone single to chat up,” Juno explained, and Jet made a noise of understanding.

“That happened... quite quickly,” Jet observed.

“I’m sure they’re not finished,” Juno muttered. Then, he glanced over and his face perked up as he spotted Buddy come near. Juno turned towards her and walked over before anybody else could steal her attention. Having been abandoned, Jet walked over to stand next to Rita.

“Congratulations!” Juno said, and Buddy looked over at him. Her painted lips broke into a grin and she reached for him the same time he did for her.

“Thank you, darling,” Buddy cooed, wrapping her arms around him tight. 

“Where’s the missues?” Juno asked as he pulled back enough to look at her. 

“She’s just powdering her nose,” Buddy said, “You know how she is.”

“Yeah, totally high maintenance, that one,” Juno rolled his eye, and Buddy laughed.

“She just needs a moment longer before being thrown to the sharks. Not like me,” Buddy said, keeping an arm around Juno as she turned to the crowd. “Here, darling, let me take a photo of us,” she said, and she held up the camera. They managed to snap a selfie.

“Would you like some help?” Peter asked, walking over to them, having left Rita and Jet to continue talking to the tall woman.

“Oh, thank you,” Buddy said, and she held out the camera. Peter took it, and held it up to his eye.

“I feel like a kid about to attend a school dance,” Juno muttered, and Buddy laughed and hugged him from the side. Juno held her tightly around the waist and smiled for the camera anyway.

“Now! Let me get a photo of the two of you!” Buddy said, taking the camera back from Peter. Juno furrowed his brows.

“This is _your_ wedding,” Juno said, “you shouldn’t be taking photos of other people!”

“It’s my wedding and I will do as I damn well please, Juno,” Buddy bit back, ushering them together. Peter laughed and swapped places with Buddy, putting an arm around Juno. “Now be a good detective and smile, darling.”

Juno huffed, but he couldn’t help but smile when Peter squeezed him and laughed lightly in his ear. He forgot himself just a moment later and looked over at Peter, who looked at him the same time, and they both laughed.

Buddy took a bunch of photos rapid-fire. Then she was turning around, “Rita, Jet! Allow me to take your photo!” she called as the two of them looked at her.

Rita was a much more eager participant than Juno, and then Buddy made them all huddle to take one big selfie, before she finally flitted away to greet other guests.

It seemed one grand entrance was enough for the night, because Vespa arrived shortly after and stuck near Jet, and eventually an MC simply announced that they would be serving food, soon, so they asked that people make their way over to their tables.

Jet delivered a speech, and then read out anecdotal stories from a handful of people who’d known Buddy and Vespa over the years. People ate and clinked their glasses for Buddy and Vespa to kiss a number of times, which they did with smiles on their faces. 

And finally, the crowd gathered to watch them watch dance. It was artfully choreographed and utterly beautiful. Peter held Juno close as Juno watched them with a hand over his heart. Rita clung to Jet at Peter’s other side.

Next, Jet left Rita to danced with the two of them at once. Peter put his arm around Rita again as they watched.

Then the dancefloor was open to anyone. Buddy and Vespa disappeared in the crowd, and Rita flew towards Jet to sweep him up into a dance.

Peter offered Juno his hand. Juno gave it, and they stepped onto the dancefloor.

“Ah, I recall that you were quite an impressive dancer, Juno,” Peter said as they stepped in time to the music.

“Indeed I am,” Juno said, back straight, “I recall you _doubted_ me.”

“Only momentarily,” Peter insisted. 

Juno laughed lightly and Peter twirled him around.

"I won't make that mistake again," Peter added, and Juno smirked.

"See to it that you don't," Juno lifted his chin, and then he pulled Peter close.

They danced to a few songs, pausing to kiss once in a while. 

Then, Juno took off for the chance to dance with Buddy, and Peter offered his hand to Rita, as Jet danced with Vespa again.

They played musical chairs with dance parents until Peter and Juno eventually met back up and went to get something to drink from the bar. 

Juno leaned back in his chair as they began chatting with one another about the décor and how everyone looked. Juno mostly swirled his glass and watched fondly as Peter waxed on excitedly about Buddy’s dress and Vespa’s suit.

They agreed to have a glass of water each before they returned to the dancefloor, so they went back to the bar. They were chatting, Peter holding Juno around the waist as Juno leaned into him, as they waited for their glasses.

Amid their conversation, someone tapped Juno the shoulder. “Juno Steel?” a voice asked, and Juno looked over.

“Oh, hey,” Juno said, looking over to see Valles Vicky standing before him, accompanied by her wife.

“Hey!” she greeted, her wife smiling brightly. “And whattaya know! Long time no see, Duke,” Vicky smiled over at Peter, and he blinked. He grabbed their cups, and Juno took one from him. 

“Valles Vicky!” Peter said, mentally shoving himself into the mind of Duke Rose. He smiled widely.

Juno glanced over at him with a slowly growing grin of his own, snickering. “How are you two?” Vicky asked.

“Juno,” Peter hissed, and Juno kept laughing, louder.

“We’re good, we’re good,” Juno said, clearing his throat. “The wedding was beautiful, huh?” he said, looking back a Vicky.

“Sure was,” Vicky said with a grin as her wife politely excused herself to order their drinks. “So… you two, huh? Interesting pair, I gotta say.”

Juno just nodded, glancing back over to ‘Duke’. “Yep. Us two,” he said, then laughed again.

“We are _quite_ the pair indeed, Vicky,” Duke assured her with his tongue between his teeth.

“I don’t know I’ve ever seen you smile this long, Steel, I'll give you that,” Vicky observed, and Juno glanced down, laughing again.

“Heh, yeah. Guess not,” he said, his eye going a little wide as he looked away. She was almost definitely right. Not that they’d known each other in the best of circumstances, though.

“I told you, didn’t I?” Vicky said with a nudge of Juno’s shoulder. “I always said! Once you’re married, you’ll get it.”

Juno cleared his throat again, glancing from Peter to Vicky. Peter was just continuing to smirk at him, this time, looking like a shark in bountiful water, “Oh, uh, we’re not.. we’re not married,” Juno explained.

“Yet,” Duke Rose said quickly, catching Vicky’s eye as she returned his smirk.

“Right,” Vicky said.

“Shut up,” Juno muttered, looking away from the two of them.

“And yet the lady doth protest too much,” Vicky said with another nudge of her arm. “Seriously. I’m happy for you, Steel. Always said you deserved better than the shit you’ve been through.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Juno said. At that moment, Vicky’s wife returned, and Vicky accepted it. “So, how’ve you been?”

“Oh, same old, same old.”

“And the kid?” Juno asked with a little smile.

“Growing like a weed,” Vicky said with a shake of her head. “She’s too good for this world. Or, well, for Mars. This universe, whatever,” Vicky shrugged.

“I believe it,” Juno nodded slowly. “Well. We were about to head back out to the dancefloor,” Juno glanced over at Peter.

“We won’t hold you up. I’ll look forward to your wedding invite, Juno,” Vicky winked and Juno groaned, loudly.

“Don’t hold your breath,” Juno said as he started to walk away.

“Awh,” Duke said loudly, a pout on his face. For the effect, of course.

“Hush, you,” Juno muttered, nudging him in the side. Peter laughed.

Reaching the dancefloor, they took each other’s hands on the dancefloor. The slow music had changed to something much more upbeat by the time they returned. They danced close, but less formally, Juno moving his body in a way Peter _definitely_ appreciated, and Peter matching the pace and style that was set.

At some point, Juno’s eyes lit up in recognition of the song that was playing. Peter watched as his lips moved to the lyrics of the song, and he smirked, leaning to Juno’s ear.

“Feel free to sing along, detective, nobody will hear but me,” Peter said, tone light and joking. Juno glared at him with no heat.

“Oh, hell no,” Juno said, “even in a crowd like this, there’s no way I’m singing. Well-” Juno cut himself off with a thought. “I guess there are a couple ways you could get me to sing,” Juno said, his hand moving from Peter’s shoulder to his bicep. Peter perked a brown.

“Oh? I’d love to know more about this new challenge I’m being issued, dear Juno,” Peter said.

Juno tilted his head back and laughed, “Okay, so, you’re either going to have to get me, uhhh, 300x more drunk than I am now.”

“Mhmm, or?”

“Or you could, I dunno, date me for approximately five years and _maybe_ catch me in the kitchen alone after you’ve already gone to bed when my guard is down enough to be singing.”

“Well, that seems entirely manageable,” Peter said with a confident nod, and Juno cackled.

“What, getting me drunk, or dating me long term?”

Peter just gave a smile and said, “Mhmm.”

“Fuck you, Peter,” Juno said with a laugh, then his eyes widened, “oops.”

“Well, I was going to say getting you drunk would be the _easier_ option, but perhaps lowering your inhibitions is not the wisest course of action,” Peter said lightly.

“I’m sorry,” Juno said, and Peter just smirked.

“Next thing you know, all of my secrets will be spilled out carelessly,” Peter said dramatically. Juno groaned.

“No, they won’t!” Juno argued, then lowered his voice. “For one, you’re still cagey as hell, I don’t know _that_ much about you. And in my defense, I don’t even know if what you’ve told me is true exactly but, still- I wouldn’t, Emery.”

“I am only teasing, Juno,” Peter told him, pressing a kiss to his hairline. “For the record, the things I have told you about myself have been the truth. Believe it or not. Of course, it is only my word you have to go on, with that,” Peter admitted plainly with a little shrug.

“To your credit, I have no reason not to trust you,” Juno said. “Even ‘borrowing _’_ my watch wasn’t exactly… proving yourself _untrustworthy,”_ Juno reasoned.

“Glad to have your confidence,” Peter said lightly, but it did mean a lot to him.

“So, circling back to you buying me a drink,” Juno said, more than a little hint in his voice as his hand moved to smooth Peter’s tie.

“Of course, love,” Peter said with a chuckle. They went back to the bar.

They got their drinks and then took them to sit for another minute. Peter scanned the crowd and saw Rita dancing with someone a bit closer to her height in another elegant dress. Buddy was talking to somebody on the dancefloor, and Jet and Vespa were at the back of the room standing together and talking to another person. 

Peter turned to Juno a moment later, lifting his glass to drink it. They made some idle banter, until the drink was finished.

They were just standing up, and Peter was about to suggest dancing again, when they were stopped short by Cecil Kanagawa.

“Junebug, darling!” Cecil greeted, and Juno had no choice but to accept his hug. “Oh, wasn’t the wedding beautiful?”

“It really was,” Juno said with a nod.

“You’re looking mighty handsome, Rex, as always,” Cecil said with a wink. Rex Glass smiled back, sharp and polite.

“Why thank you,” he said simply.

“I am already thinking of how we can upstage the Aurinkos’ at our own weddings,” Cecil said, an arm around Juno and determination on his face. “Of course, we need to find _me_ a suitable partner first, but I am sure we can figure out a way for the two of you to top this, I just know it,” Cecil said, as if to be assuring.

“We’re not.. we’re not engaged,” Juno pointed out, glancing over at Peter with a shake of his head.

“Well, not yet,” Rex said with a little shrug. “You never know what may happen, Juno.” 

Juno just shook his head with a scowl, “If _one_ more person says something about us getting married, I swear.”

Cecil either didn’t hear, or didn’t care. He grinned and changed the subject, “And don’t think I forgot about the dance you promised me,” he announced, and Juno pulled a face before forcing a smile.

“I don’t know if I’d say _promised_ or even really _agreed_ , Cecil, but-” Juno said.

“So, I hope you don’t mind my stealing your lovely lady, Rex,” Cecil said, turning and holding out his hand. Juno sighed and took it.

“Of course not, Cecil,” Rex smiled pleasantly, “so long as you bring him back in one piece.”

"I make _no_ promises," Cecil cackled. And thus, Juno was swept away from Peter with a grimace on his face. 

Peter decided to fetch another drink in the meantime. He took it, and stood a little distance away from the bar. He glanced around the room and picked out Juno, Rita, Jet, and Buddy, but did not see Vespa anywhere. He sipped his drink for a moment and then went to look back at Juno, but someone stepped in front of him that very moment.

“Why hello there, handsome,” a woman greeted him. She was in a long black dress and expensive-looking jewelry. He gave her a smile, polite. “How’s a fine thing like you enjoying the evening?” she asked. Her tone was good-natured, accented, and upbeat.

“I am enjoying myself quite well, thank you,” Peter sipped his wine, and the woman glanced over her shoulder. “How about yourself, darling?”

“I am doing just fine,” she said, “this venue is absolutely stunning.”

“Oh, I wholeheartedly agree. I must say, my expectations _were_ high, given this is the nuptials of Buddy Aruniko- but she has really outdone herself.”

“Oh, one hundred percent! I’m gonna have to ask her for the name of her planner before my next charity event,” the woman said, and Peter hummed his agreement.

“A wise idea,” Peter commented, and the woman gave him a grin. He looked her up and down as subtly as he could.

“I am having an exceptional night, myself,” she went on, “especially with someone as gorgeous as you in my view,” she gave a little laugh, and Peter raised a brow. “And I must say, you do look awfully familiar.”

“I am getting the sense we may have met before, I must admit,” Peter said, and he hummed. Then, the woman’s eyes went wide.

“ _Monsieur Dauphin_ ,” she said, snapping her fingers. “I did _not_ recognize you.” She might not, Dauphin was a recent and short-lived alias, and he was an icy blond rather than a brunet. He'd dyed it back not long before getting that text from Juno, in fact. 

Peter pressed his lips together, and finally made the connection. “Zolotonva, right?”

“Nova, yes!” she said, and she hung her hand out delicately. He took it and kissed it, as was expected of him.

“You are looking very well, Nova, dear,” Peter said, clearing his throat and doing what he could to call up the role of Dauphin. “I can see you got a haircut,” he said.

Nova bounced her hand at the bottom of her hair. “That I did, Monsieur, that I did.”

“It looks marvelous on you,” he told her, and she gave him a sweet smile.

“Why thank you kindly. I must say you are looking _very_ well yourself, Monsieur. I see you changed your hair too! Now tell me,” Nova’s lips curled up just a bit more, “a sweet little thing like you surely ain’t here alone, huh?”

As if on cue, Peter felt two arms come around his shoulder from the side, “Hey, babe, sorry I was gone so long,” Juno was saying in his ear, voice bubbly.

“Oh, no matter, my love,” Peter said to Juno, clearing his throat and putting an arm around Juno’s waist. “Yes, Ms. Zolotonva, I am in fact _not_ here alone this evening. Please, allow me to introduce you to my wife _,_ Madame Dauphin,” Peter said, smiling widely as Juno looked over at the woman like he’d hardly noticed her.

“Oh, uh, hello there. Yeah, that’s me! His wife,” Juno said with a similarly wide smile, glancing from Nova to Peter and back again.

“Oh- my, I did _not_ realize you were married! We did meet about a half a year ago, did we not? I believe you said at that time you were single then,” Nova said curiously, placing a hand on her chest, “but it is a pleasure to meet you all the same, Madame!”

“Ah, yes, of course,” Peter glanced down at Juno with a lovestruck little look. “Well, they say when you know you know, don’t they? We were actually married _very_ recently ourselves,” Peter told her.

“Yeah, nothing like going to another person’s wedding for your honeymoon,” Juno said with a light laugh, looking over at Peter with a glint in his eyes.

“Yes, of course, dear,” Peter said, holding Juno’s gaze for just a second. Then, they both turned back to Nova.

“Anyway,” Juno said, “I was just about to go get another drink, honey- I’ll grab you one too, hm?”

“I would love that, my most cherished wife,” Peter cooed, and Juno gave him an overly sweet smile before kissing him on the cheek and walking away.

“The two of you certainly have a… chemistry,” Nova said with a nervous little laugh. Peter turned a pained smile to her.

“Yes, we do. Our romance has been very passionate, indeed, but not without its conflict. I love my wife so dearly, but I must admit it, there is a bit of a strain, on our relationship,” Peter said, ending on a little gasp. Nova’s eyes widened. “Oh, it terrifies me _utterly_.”

“Oh, my, Monsieur. And are you alright?” she asked, and Peter just sighed heavily.

“I am, I assure you. _He_ is no danger to me, at least. Things are difficult right now, those post-wedding blues. And matters are complicated, you see,” Peter went on. He couldn’t stop himself, now that he’d started. “His family doesn’t approve of me! And they use this to lord over his head- I don’t wish to get into the details, mind you, but our situation is, at times- precarious at best. Still, our love prevails,” Peter said, placing a hand on his chest and looking wistfully at Juno, who was waiting at the bar with a slightly bored expression on his face.

“That’s just awful,” Nova said, a hand on her cheek. “Oh, if there was only something I could do,” Nova said, and Peter perked a brow. He _was_ just having fun.

“Oh, surely, Ms. Zolotovna, there is not much that can be done! Of course.. if only we had the funds to extricate ourselves from his _family_ ,” Peter glanced back over at Juno again, “but we are still far from that goal.”

“Well if it’s creds that will help,” Nova said slowly, thinking, “oh, you are just so sweet,” she said, and then she unclasped two bracelets on her wrist. “Here! Go, and be with your wife. Be free of that awful family of his,” she said.

Peter feigned a great look of surprise, “Oh, Nova, I couldn’t possibly! Of course it would help, but he is quite in debt to his parents- to get away from them, it would take-” Peter broke his speech, a sad look in his eyes.

Nova grabbed some things from her pocket and shoved them into his hands, “Here, I assure you, Monsieur, this will at least be a start!”

“Oh, your generosity knows no bounds,” Peter said, emotion in his voice. “Bless you, and your romantic heart,” he said. He played sincere perfectly, and Nova just made a choked noise.

Peter stuffed the jewels into his pockets before clasping Nova’s hands in his own, thanking her again, and then turning to walk off. He met Juno a few feet away and accepted a wine glass. He then placed his hand on Juno’s shoulder and said, “Don’t stop. Walk with me. Quickly, dear.”

“What, why?” Juno asked, about to glance back just as Peter said,

“Don’t look, just walk. I’d like to get some air,” Peter said, explaining… nothing, really. Juno just sighed and allowed himself to be directed out of the grand ballroom.

“What is it, you just want a moment alone with me?” Juno asked, as they reached the middle of the hall. Peter smirked at him.

“I always want a moment alone with you, Juno,” Peter purred, voice dropping low. Then, they made it to the door and he opened it and waved Juno through. They walked a bit away from the venue before Peter turned to Juno, his hands coming up to Juno’s face as they kissed.

It was quiet, outside, with only the faintest of music drifting from the ballroom and bugs humming in the background. Juno made a soft noise, and then pulled back.

Juno was going to lean back in, but something caught his attention, and he glanced back.

“ _Vespa_ ,” he heard, and then a gasp. It was Buddy’s distinct cadence floating through the air. His eye went wide and he looked at Peter, who shared the same expression.

“I think I’ve had enough _air_ ,” Peter whispered, and they both heard a loud hitching of breath before Peter took Juno’s hand and they sped back to the door.

They made it halfway into the hall before Juno collapsed against the wall, covering his mouth to stop himself from laughing. Peter’s face mirrored his own.

“Oh my _God_ ,” Juno said, and Peter laughed more. Juno reached for Peter’s hips and pulled him close, kissing him on the nose. “Hey, is there something in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?” Juno asked, patting at Peter’s legs.

“Oh, don’t worry about that, darling,” Peter pressed his lips together as Juno slipped one of the two bracelets from Peter’s pocket.

“ _Peter_ ,” Juno hissed, and Peter flashed his eyes at him.

“Names, my love,” Peter said, and Juno bit his tongue.

“Oops, sorry,” Juno said. Then he looked down at the jewelry, “How did you…? This was on her wrist!” Juno stage whispered.

“I didn’t _steal_ it,” Peter whispered innocently, “she gave it to me freely! After I said we were trying to extricate ourselves from your terrible, terrible, parents.”

Juno tilted his head back and let out an abrupt laugh. “You _rotten_ fucking…” he muttered.

“If it’s really an issue I can put them back into her bag, Juno,” Peter said with a scoff. “It was just a bit of fun.”

“Nah,” Juno said, looking at the bracelet in his hand before slipping it back into Peter’s pocket. “I don’t give a shit. Do you _know_ how much money she has? And how she fucking gets it?” he scoffed in the back of his throat. “I mean, sure, she’s comes across as nice lady but. I dunno,” he muttered.

“She just… outrages you?” Peter asked in a low voice, perking his brow again.

“Kinda,” Juno muttered, and Peter leaned forward and kissed him, hard.

With his back already to the wall, Juno brought his arms around Peter as Peter pushed his tongue in Juno’s mouth. Evidently, they forget they were in the middle of the hall as Peter pressed his body against Juno’s.

“You amaze me, Juno,” Peter breathed. He kissed him, again, and Juno stifled a noise.

“You’re pretty amazing yourself,” Juno murmured, then laughed softly. “We should probably cool it, though,” he muttered.

“You’re right,” Peter nodded, kissing Juno one last time before leaning back, his hand trailing up Juno’s side. Their eyes connected, and Peter glanced down at Juno’s lips for a moment before they both leaned in again.

“Peter,” Juno said when he pulled back, tone serious.

“ _Juno_ , names,” Peter hissed, and Juno’s eye went wide again.

“Sorry,” he mouthed, and then they laughed.

“Hello there, darlings,” Buddy’s voice rang from down the hall. They both looked over, expressions like that of deer in headlights. She and Vespa were coming from the direction of the outside door, their arms around each other. Sure, they didn’t _look_ disheveled- but looks could be deceiving. 

“Who are you talking to, Steel?” Vespa asked, “didn’t you just say _Peter_? Did I... hear that wrong?”

“Fuck,” Juno muttered, and he glanced at Peter. Peter clicked his tongue loudly. They slowly took their hands from one another’s bodies.

“I heard it too,” Buddy said slowly.

Peter huffed.

“Um. It’s his… first name… Emery is his middle name and that’s what he goes by, but, since I’m his partner I get special first name privileges?” Juno said with the confidence of a school child presenting in their worst subject, but he nodded firmly.

“They already know Emery is not my real name, dear,” Peter reminded him, and Juno snapped his fingers.

“Right, fuck.” Juno frowned at Peter, holding his eyes, “I am _so_ sorry. I really will be more careful, P- fuck,” Juno bit his lip.

“Dear, they already heard it,” Peter said, placing a hand on Juno’s shoulder blade, running it across his back soothingly. “I’m not cross with you, it’s fine.”

“Okay,” Juno muttered.

“Yes, and I assure you, Pete, we _will_ practice discretion, you have nothing to worry about,” Buddy said with a smile and a glint in her eye. Peter gave her a tiny frown, but cleared his throat.

“Yes, I ask that you do. Sharing my name is not something I take lightly, and I may not know you personally, Buddy, but… I also trust Juno deeply, and he clearly trusts you,” Peter gave a little shrug, and Buddy nodded firmly.

“Awh,” Juno said, smiling at Peter. Peter looked at him, and smiled back.

“Okay, we’ve already seen enough of _this_ ,” Vespa said.

“Vespa! They’re just looking at one another,” Buddy told her with a loud laugh.

“It’s gross,” Vespa said, and Juno furrowed his brows.

“This is barely even PDA,” Juno argued, incredulous.

“Okay, sure, but what do you call what we just walked in on? It’s not like you’ve been shown capable of keeping your hands _off_ each other, so don’t even start,” Vespa said, and Juno pushed himself closer to Peter.

“You’ve barely even spent time with us, Vespa, you don’t know that!”

“I know the look, Steel,” Vespa grumbled.

“Yes, you do, Vespa. You know it well, because they’re practically a mirror of us!” Buddy chimed in with another hoot of laughter, “Really, you should grant them more leniency, love." 

“Uh-uh, no way. We have a free pass, it’s our wedding! They can be gross when they get married,” Vespa said, with a smirk. Juno scoffed loudly.

“Well, certainly that will happen sooner than later, anyway,” Buddy said, and Juno groaned, loudly.

“We are not getting married!” Juno snapped.

“Yet,” Peter added, unable to stop himself. Juno glared at him.

“Of course, there’s no rush at all,” Buddy said. “I only hope to be invited once you _do_ get married, Juno,” Buddy said sweetly.

Juno looked at her with a slight surprise. “Oh, c’mon, Buddy, of course you’ll be there at ou- _my_ , wedding, to whomever it may be, not necessarily the guy I’ve been dating for a couple _weeks_ ,” Juno grumbled, and Peter bit back a smile. “But you’ll probably be _standing_ in my wedding, Buddy, be real. If I don’t ask you to walk me down the aisle, that is.”

Buddy gasped quietly, and placed her hand on her chest. “Oh, Juno. That is… truly very sweet. I will hold you to it! Now I have more motivation than ever to see you married,” she said firmly, and Juno regarded her skeptically.

“I mean, I don’t see how you could orchestrate that, I…” Juno shook his head, trailing off.

“You’d do well not to underestimate my wife, Steel,” Vespa said, and then she got this giddy look on her face as she glanced at Buddy. Buddy laughed, sweet as honey, and leaned to kiss Vespa.

Juno gave them hearteyes despite himself, and Peter squeezed his shoulder.

“Well,” Buddy said, after pulling back from Vespa’s lips. “It is actually starting to get late, and Vespa and I were preparing to take our leave soon. So, in the event we don’t see you again, we can bid our goodnights now,” Buddy said reluctantly pulled herself from Vespa to hug Juno.

Juno hugged her, tightly. “Congratulations, again, Buddy.” He said.

“Thank you, darling,” Buddy said, and she pressed a kiss to his forehead before pulling away. “You come here, too, Pete,” Buddy said. Peter didn’t pester her about the name, he just accepted her tight hug.

“I wish the two of you every happiness,” Peter said, voice sincere.

Vespa even gave Juno a brief hug, tight, then punched him on the arm. She gave Peter a firm nod, and then she Buddy walked away.

“Hey… now that’s it, uh, safe… wanna try getting air again?” Juno asked, and Peter nodded with a little laugh.

“I would.” 

So, Juno and Peter went outside. Juno apologized to Peter once again, about letting his name slip, and Peter brushed it off. Their conversation drifted along, as they looked up at the moon.

“I’m gonna miss it,” Juno said, looking up, “being here on earth. It’s been… fun,” he said, glancing over at Peter.

“I’m glad you liked it, Juno,” Peter said softly. “I’m sure Rita will be easy to convince to come back, if you felt the need to return. For a vacation, you know.”

“I really should take more of those,” Juno admitted. Peter smiled at him, the agreement implicit in his face. Sure, he had never seen how hard Juno usually worked, but he got the sense it was _very_.

They walked down to the beach for just a few moments, taking in the cooler night air before going back inside, feeling a bit more mellow.

They danced again, and Rita came by to join them for a bit before leaving with the tall woman from earlier.

Juno and Peter stayed a while later. They were having fun dancing with one another, bodies close and moving in tandem.

And as the night was winding down for good, they were at the edge of the dancefloor, just getting ready to leave Juno heard his name called _yet_ again. Peter's hand was at the small of Juno's back and Juno was kissing Peter on the cheek when they heard,

“Juno…? Juno Steel?” from a disbelieving voice. It was a voice Juno hadn’t heard in a long time, but he recognized right away.

“Holy shit,” Juno muttered, and he glanced over.

It was Diamond, looking every bit the ghost from his past in a white suit and black tie. Juno blinked in disbelief.

“Holy shit, it's really you,” Diamond said, standing before Juno with their hands in their pockets.

“Hey,” Juno said, looking from Diamond over to Peter. Peter tilted his head. “It's been… ages.”

“Basically a decade,” Diamond said with a nod and raised brows.

“Who is this, love?” Peter asked lightly, noticing the dramatic tonal shift.

“Oh, right, uh… this is my ex-fiancé,” Juno explained, “Diamond.”

Diamond sucked air through their teeth and nodded.

“Ooh. Yes, of course,” Peter said quietly.

“Yep. Uh, you look good, Juno,” Diamond said. “Geeze, fancy meeting you here all the way out here, of all places,” they gave a little laugh.

“Yeah, really,” Juno muttered.

“Didn’t even know you _could_ leave Hyperion,” Diamond added, humor in their voice. Juno bit the inside of his lip.

“Yeah,” he said, a little more forcefully “I did though! I am here now. Say… didn’t think you’d be one to know Buddy Aurinko?” he observed, crossing his arms over his middle.

“I don’t, actually,” Diamond explained. “I know Vespa. I was working for a medical supply store, way back, and we got to hanging around. I didn’t realize she remembered me well enough to invite me to her wedding, but, hey, who doesn’t want an excuse to go to a resort for a few days? That’s… not why you’re here, I presume?” Diamond gave a little smirk and Juno narrowed his eye.

“I’m a close friend of Buddy’s, actually. And Jet Siquilak,” Juno stated, then he glanced at Peter again. “I mean, Vespa says we _aren’t_ friends but I think that means we are.”

“Ah,” Diamond said, confusion on their face for a moment, and then, acceptance.

Juno took in a deep breath, glancing at Peter. “Damn, where even are my manners? How rude, we’ve been standing here talking, and I haven’t even introduced you, Diamond- to my husband,” Juno said, voice steady, and lowering just as bit as he ended. Peter gave a warm smile and slid his hand to Juno's waist.

“Oh,” Diamond's eyes went wide, “you’re… married. Uh, Nice to meet you?”

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Peter said politely. “I hate to be that person, but I simply must say thank you, for… stepping away, from my Juno, how you did,” Peter said delicately, and Juno gave him a look.

“Right,” Diamond said slowly.

“Of course, it’s always tragic for a relationship to end. But to think, that I could have missed my chance to have what we have?” Peter said, looking at Juno like he had hung the stars, his tone taking on a more serious note. “Truly, I cannot imagine life without my dear detective.”

“Okay, we get it! Sap,” Juno said with a roll of his eye, and Peter just gave him a small smile.

“I am being entirely sincere,” he said quietly, and Juno looked away, but he smiled just a _tiny_ bit. 

“Anyway, yeah," Juno cleared his throat and looked back to Diamond. "Well. We’re obviously doing well, and I’d ask how you are, Diamond, but I don’t know that I care to find out.”

Diamond patted the tops of their thighs, “Yeeaah, it’s not like I don’t know that’s fair, Juno. You do look like you’re doing well for yourself. I’m happy for you,” Diamond gave a nod.

“Right,” Juno said.

“You _didn’t_ ask, but I'm doing well too. I figured… if I saw you I should at least say hi, and I did. So.” Diamond nodded again.

“Yeah,” Juno said. “Okay, well! We were just on our way out. So. See you, or, well, no offence- hopefully _not_.”

“Fair enough,” Diamond muttered. “Well. Goodbye, Juno.”

Juno nodded.

“It was nice meeting you,” Peter said in a fake pleasant tone, and then he pulled Juno away, and they walked back to their hotel room.

Juno was entirely silent the whole way, and Peter just kept his hand firmly on Juno’s back.

They were quiet until they were back in their bedroom.

“Hey,” Juno finally said, as Peter unzipped his dress for him. “I know it’s late and we should probably go to sleep, but… Will you fuck me _really_ hard, Peter?”

Peter pressed his lips to a scar on Juno's shoulder as his dress crumpled forward. “Anything you like, darling. I do have to ask, though…”

Juno sighed and let his dress fall to the grow, stepped out of it. Peter's jacket was hanging on a chair and his tie was loosened. His pile of Nova’s jewelry was on the vanity next to all their toiletry bags

“Yeah?” Juno asked, turning towards Peter.

“You want it _hard_ because we ran into your ex?”

“Well.. yeah,” Juno muttered.

“That is fine,” Peter said, unbuttoning his shirt and shrugging it off his shoulders. “And… will this really help, Juno?”

“Maybe?” Juno shrugged. “It won’t _hurt_. I just... I was having a good night. Buddy and Vespa’s wedding was gorgeous, everything was fine. Don’t tell her I said this, but I really do love Buddy,” Juno said.

Juno’s hands came to Peter’s shoulders as he stood in his underwear and Peter unbuttoned his pants. Peter nodded.

Juno continued on, “I don’t want this night, this memory, to be ruined by one shitty little thing. I just want… to feel better, I don’t know. I want you to- hold me, and fuck me,” Juno mumbled quietly, kissing Peter’s neck.

“Of course, Juno,” Peter murmured soothingly. “Perhaps… if you’re not certain about _needing_ it hard, we can try gentle, first? And if it’s not working, I’ll fuck you into the mattress and ensure you forget their name. And your own,” Peter offered. Juno just nodded.

“Okay. We can try it your way.” Juno agreed softly.

So, Peter grabbed few condoms and turned the lights down, but not off, and they got onto the bed. 

Peter made love to Juno gently and slowly, murmuring sweet nothing into his skin and whispering about how good and perfect Juno was. Juno didn’t tell him to stop, or to go harder, he just moaned and kept his eye shut. 

Then, after Juno came with a whine, Peter checked in. At that point, Juno asked to _now_ be fucked mercilessly into the mattress. Peter agreed, making Juno scream and cry out in ecstasy.

They slowed down again, and Juno spent a little time in Peter’s lap, at gentle pace once more, before he got Peter to switch places again. He asked Peter to stay gentle, and Peter agreed readily.

Juno cried for a little bit after that and Peter held him, kissing his temple until Juno fell asleep. Peter only was up another twenty minutes, wanting to make sure Juno would stay asleep, before he, too, drifted off.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note, there are discussions of Mag and Sarah Steel in this chapter. It touches on hard choices, self-blame, and suicide. Please proceed with caution!!

They slept for a good few hours, though not as long as would be ideal. The lack of sleep was, ultimately, worth the night they had. 

Juno was awake first for once, lifting a hand to brush a strand of hair from Peter’s forehead. Peter stayed sleeping for another few minutes as Juno watched him. Peter shifted when he woke, and blinked up at Juno.

“Good morning, love,” Peter murmured, and Juno pressed a kiss to his lips.

“Hey,” Juno said softly.

Peter tucked his head into Juno’s neck and they cuddled in quiet for a few minutes, letting the air remain still around them as Peter woke up more fully and pressed kisses to Juno’s skin.

“Thanks,” Juno said, “for.. last night. Like, the end of last night.”

“You certainly don’t have to thank me for fucking you, Juno,” Peter said, pulling away to look at him. Both of them still had sleep in their eyes.

“Not the _sex_ , the… comfort,” Juno muttered, and Peter hummed.

“Aah. Well, you needn’t thank me for that either, Juno. I’m happy to do it,” Peter said casually, “and even more, honored that you let me,” he added, a hand coming up to Juno’s face to stroke along his cheekbone. Peter, once again, felt the urge to say that he loved Juno. He held back.

Juno grumbled in the back of his throat. “Sap,” he muttered. Peter just leaned forward and kissed him again. Juno let him, smiling against his lips.

“Guilty as charged,” Peter murmured, and Juno made a noise of amusement. They kissed a few more times, before Juno flopped onto his back again and rubbed a knuckle beneath his missing eye.

“Y’know, I feel like you know more about me than I know about you,” Juno said, slowly, and Peter felt ice grip his heart for just a second. Then Juno looked at him, and he willed it to melt away.

“Yes, most likely,” Peter admittedly. “Is there something you would like to know, my dear detective?”

“Nothing specific,” Juno said, shifting back onto his side and putting his hands under his cheek. “I just… I dunno. You said you have no siblings, and you only had a ‘father _figure’_ , not a parent… Sure, I can try to put the facts together, but, sometimes it’s nice to just- Learn something about someone because they tell you, in direct terms." 

Peter hummed, his mind immediately going to the worst thing he could tell Juno at the mention of his father figure. _Mag_. He weighed his options. They were meant to be leaving early next morning, having packed most of their things before getting ready for the wedding. Their ‘business engagement’ would be complete, and he would have no reason to see Juno again- not until Juno needed another wedding date, and that was under the assumption that Juno didn’t meet someone to date in earnest before another friend got married.

“You don’t have to tell me anything, of course,” Juno said softly.

“I… can tell you, a little bit, about the father figure. If you wish to know,” Peter said. Juno nodded silently. “He taught me my ways, and many things about the world. He instilled a sense of justice, in a way. But more than that, self-preservation,” Peter nodded. He hesitated, and then said, “I don’t wish to scare you, Juno.”

Juno furrowed his brows. “Scare me?”

“I looked up to him. He… lied to me,” Peter said, voice taking on a dark note.

“Mhm,” Juno said.

“He’s dead, now,” Peter said, licking his lips because his mouth suddenly felt dry. Juno gave a little nod, listening. “His- his demise came by my own hand. If I had not done what I did, harm would have come to a great many people, I know that for certain. I had no _choice_. Living with myself would be difficult no matter what decision I made. So, I chose the option that would save more lives,” Peter admittedly, perhaps for the first time ever out loud. “I understand this likely sounds fantastical, but I assure you, Juno, I am not… making this up." 

Juno blinked slowly, and nodded again. “I… I believe you, Peter. Th-that’s awful, that you had to make that choice. I… I’m sure it was the right one,” Juno murmured, and Peter shut his eyes and rolled onto his back. He felt like he was floating, and that it was impossible that he’d really just said that to another human being. “Still. That’s.. fucked up,” is what Juno landed on, his hand gently coming to Peter’s chest. Peter placed his hand atop Juno’s.

“It was a long time ago. I never knew my _biological_ parents. He.. said he knew my father, I don’t believe that was true,” Peter said. He felt Juno kiss him on the shoulder.

“That’s rough,” Juno said, his voice just a little gravely. Peter looked back over at him.

“It’s… well, it’s not okay. I’m not sure there’s enough therapy in the world to make something like that _okay_. Not that I’ve had… any,” Peter gave a little laugh, and then turned his head back to the ceiling. Juno’s mouth twisted.

“I’m finally back in therapy, myself,” Juno breathed. “It does help, but… it’s never easy, Peter.”

Peter nodded slowly. “I believe you.”

Juno bit his lip, and said, “Thanks. For trusting me with that.”

Peter glanced back at Juno and gave him a smile, soft and sad. “Of course, Juno,” he said, voice barely above a whisper. Juno took his face and kissed him again, harder.

Then, Juno snuggled up to Peter’s side and Peter placed his hand on Juno’s back. Juno draped a leg over Peter’s, head on his chest. “I won’t tell you I _understand_ how you feel, because that’s bullshit. What you went through is incredibly specific and there’s no way I could understand it,” Juno said, and Peter made a humourless noise of amusement in the back of his throat.

“That’s fair,” Peter said lightly, thumb stroking the back of Juno’s neck.

“Still. I might understand more than most people, and… I feel for you,” Juno said. “I was _there_ when my mom died. Technically I wasn’t… exactly the cause of her death, I guess,” he muttered.

Peter ran his hand over Juno’s hair, and then squeezed his shoulder. “Intriguing statement, detective. Care to elaborate?” he asked slowly.

“It’s such a blur, honestly. She… well, she was trying to shoot me. If I had a gun, too, who knows what I’d have done? She _almost_ shot Benzaiten, then we were all shouting, we were both moving towards her, Ben always said he was going to take the gun from her, but she- she shot herself,” Juno said. “It wasn’t my fault. I know that. Logically,” he said.

“You don’t feel it, though,” Peter murmured. Juno shrugged.

“I’ve been coming around,” he muttered. “So, we don’t have the same story or anything, but it’s a little eerily similar, hey? Both single parents who turned out to be kind of, or really, shitty- and we were both implicated in their deaths in one way, or another,” Juno said, turning his head to look up at Peter.

Peter laughed, and Juno pressed his lips together. “Perhaps this is what has drawn us together so strongly, Juno? I will admit, I haven’t felt this… connected to someone, in a very long time. Low and behold, it was our eerily similar parental trauma all along!” Peter snorted once more. 

Juno buried his face in Peter’s chest and Peter’s breath hitched.

“I am so sorry, I should not be laughing. Absolutely nothing about this is funny,” Peter said, swallowing thickly.

“No,” Juno said, slowly. “That fact you’re laughing at this just means we’re more compatible than I want to admit,” Juno allowed himself to smile and laughed a bit, too, lifting to look at Peter in the eyes. “You’re really fucked up, Peter. But so am I.”

“We are both in need of therapy,” Peter said, wiping a tear that he didn’t realize was falling until it was halfway down his cheek before giving up. Juno brushed the next few away with his thumb and kissed him. Peter wanted, _badly_ , to say he loved Juno. He resisted. “I am glad you are getting it,” Peter said instead.

“If you’re… heading back to Hyperion, or whatever, I can help you find someone there,” Juno offered gently, and Peter bit his lip.

“Thank you. My… whole deal, does make that a bit difficult, admittedly. Still, perhaps someday I will give it more serious thought,” Peter said, frowning. He didn’t want to disappoint Juno with his gentle refusal, but, well- lying would be worse.

Juno just nodded, non-judgmental. “Where _are_ you going after this?”

“I don’t know,” Peter said honestly, giving a little shrug. “I have not thought that far enough, my dear. I assume you will be returning to Hyperion?”

Juno snorted. “Where else?” he asked, and then kissed Peter again. “So. You’ll know where to find me. If you’re ever in the area, and, y’know, want to give me a shout,” Juno murmured. Peter nodded.

He wasn’t sure if he should invent a reason to be in Hyperion, when he just clearly said he didn’t know where he was going. Peter didn’t have a chance to think through any sort of response, because Juno was looking at him and biting his lip before he said,

“Hey, so, uh. I noticed that you haven’t accepted the… creds transfer, for this whole event thing?” Juno tilted his head. “It’s, like, the last day we’ll be here? I sort of assumed, when you didn’t accept it our first day here, that you might wait until the wedding. But, it’s after the wedding, sooo,” Juno looked at him, face expectant, and pushed himself up to sit. His palm was on the mattress as the blankets pooled at his waist.

Peter pressed his lips together. “Ah, right. I, uh, have not been watching my accounts _too_ closely,” Peter explained. He didn’t add that of course he’d seen the money. Nor that he simply did not want to acknowledge that this was, ultimately, supposed to be a fake-dating business engagement, not something real. He didn’t plan to accept Juno’s creds, and never had.

“Well, you can do it from your comms, right? I mean, I’m shit with technology, but I know it’s possible,” he said. Peter nodded.

“Mhmm, yes, that is possible,” Peter said. He sat up, slowly, shifting so his back was against the headboard. “Yes, well,” Peter sniffed, clearing his throat. “The thing is, Juno-“

Before he could try to explain himself, they heard loud knocking.

“BOYS!” Rita barked, “Are you decent!?”

Juno glanced down, nothing but the blanket covering him. “No?” he yelled back.

“Well hurry up and _get decent!_ Have you even checked your comms? We are gonna be late!” Rita yelled.

Juno and Peter looked at one another, and Juno reached for his comms on the table, “Late for _what_ , Rita?”

“Ughhhhh! Check your _comms_ , Mista Steel! Buddy invited us to a late brunch with her and Jet and Vespa and it’s a real honor to spend the next day after the wedding with the brides themselves, and I just don’t wanna be disrespectful of them, so you _better not make me late!_ We have, like, fifteen whole minutes to get down there! _”_

Juno’s eye scanned his comms and confirmed what Rita was shouting at them. “Fuck,” he said, and he and Peter both leapt from the bed and pulled some clothing on haphazardly.

“You can come in, Rita,” Juno yelled, and then he went to the mirror and wiped at the black smudges from the liner in his waterline the night prior.

Peter combed his hair and leaned in front of Juno to pick out a pair of glasses that went with his soft yellow button-down and deep black slacks, putting them on his nose. Then, he moved past Rita in the doorway and went to brush his teeth. Juno followed at his heels and they stood in the mirror with their shoulders together.

“The two-a-you are disasters, you know that, right?” Rita asked them, but she sounded less stressed than the moments before. She was wearing an oversized cardigan, grabbing a little hand purse to take with her. “It’s not in the main restaurant, either, it’s down in one a them little private rooms,” Rita explained.

“Oh, shit,” Juno said, and he used water to actually scrub the leftover makeup from under his eyes and huffed. “Has anyone seen my eyepatch?”

“It’s on your bedside table, love,” Peter told him, and Juno nodded, leaving the bathroom to go get it. Peter dabbed a lightweight cream foundation onto his face and forwent the winged liner, much to his dismay.

They left four minutes later and arrived with four more minutes to spare, Rita opening the door and walking in with a deep sigh.

Jet and Vespa were there, talking. Vespa looked tired, bags under her own eyes. She was wearing what looked to be pyjamas, and Jet was in a robe, jeans, and a t-shirt.

“Hello, everyone,” Jet greeted, and Rita pulled out a chair next to him at the circular table. Juno sat next to her, and Peter on his side, leaving just the seat between himself and Vespa empty. There were a variety of breakfast foods piled on plates in the middle of the table, and empty plates set out at each seat. “I trust you slept well,” Jet said.

“I don’t trust you slept at all by the looks of you, Steel,” Vespa said, looking him up and down.

“I mean, I got a _couple_ hours,” Juno said, “we did,” he said, glancing at Peter.

“Gross,” Vespa said, and Juno opened his mouth to argue, but the door opened again.

“I have returned, darlings,” Buddy announced, “And it looks like our guests have joined us! Please, don’t wait on my account. You know I can’t eat food anyway!”

So, the rest of them all grabbed some food from the middle of the table as Jet and Rita made light chitchat, Rita thanking Buddy for inviting. Buddy just smiled.

As they started eating, and quieted down a bit, Buddy clasped her hands together. “Now, I must admit, I do have an ulterior motive to this brunch,” Buddy said, and the three of them looked at her with question. Vespa and Jet did not look surprised, though.

“Oh. What’s up, Buddy?” Juno asked, and Buddy just smiled at him.

Buddy cleared her throat, “I have gathered you here today,”

“To join us in holy matrimony?” Juno asked with a smirk, and Buddy shot him a look.

“Juno, you were adamant last night that you and Pete were waiting to get married, at least a month or so!” Buddy said, and Juno’s face went sour.

“You did walk into that one, Mista Steel. _Wait_ , you two are getting married?! Why did I not hear about this? Buddy!” Rita looked between Juno and Buddy, eyes wide.

Peter was glancing over at Jet, “So much for discretion, hm, Mrs. Aurinko?”

“Oh, my bad, Pete… I am sure Jet would have learned soon enough, in all fairness,” Buddy said, looking only a bit sorry.

“Your name is Pete?” Jet asked, his expression undecipherable.

“Peter,” Peter muttered.

“I see,” Jet nodded. 

“Mista _Steel_ ,” Rita was saying, at the same time as Jet and Peter spoke.

“We are _not_ getting married!” Juno said loudly, looking at Buddy and then at Rita. and Vespa groaned and put her head in her hands.

“But she just said-“

“She’s _kidding_ , Rita! You know Peter and I have only been dating for like a week,” Juno said, exasperated.

“I mean,” Peter muttered under his breath, but nobody paid him any mind, except perhaps Jet, who was still staring at him quizzically.

“Bud, do you _really_ wanna do what you’re about to do?” Vespa asked, lifting her head from her hands and looking at her wife.

“I’m sure it will be fine, Vespa. Best we get this sort of thing out of the way now, anyway, hm? It is only our first meeting, after all,” Buddy said with a wave of her hand. “NOW!” Buddy said sharply, and all eyes were on her again. “I have gathered you all here, because I have a proposition for you.”

Peter tilted his head.

“Yes, including you, Pete,” Buddy said.

“I.. did not say anything,” Peter muttered, and Buddy just shook her head at him.

“Your guard is significantly lowered, I am sure the detective is to blame. No matter, though, it’s very sweet,” Buddy said, and Peter looked taken aback, and then shot Juno a look.

“What?” Juno said, “Oh, sue me for wanting one vulnerable moment with you, it’s not _my fault_ Buddy Aurinko is a mastermind who can pick out people’s insecurities from a mile away!”

“I didn’t.. even say anything.” Peter said, taking in a deep breath. “ _Buddy_. What is that you brought us here for?”

“Well, you get a point for at least showing interest, darling,” Buddy said, and Peter perked a brow. “Yes, anyway. As most of you know, we have been ‘laying low’ recently, so to speak. With the wedding planning, and my just getting Vespa back, our focus has been on ourselves. However, after our honeymoon, Vespa and I have made plans to carry out a _mission_. It will be risky, and it requires a highly skilled team to pull off. The payoff promises to be grand, however,” Buddy told them. Peter, Rita, and Juno found themselves nodding along.

“Where’s it taking place?” Juno asked, and Buddy gave him a little smile.

“Excellent question, Juno. It will take place all over the galaxy, and for at least a year. We have purchased a ship and it’s comms enabled, so you will always be able to reach your brother. There will likely be much downtime where we will simply refine our skills and plan for the next stage of the mission. There _may_ be opportunity for you to visit Hyperion over the duration,” Buddy said. “Still, I understand this might be a reservation of yours. I do not wish it to be the reason you refuse to accept but, of course, there is only so much I can offer.”

Juno just nodded, and made a face like he was thinking.

“And you get the chance to think about it, obviously,” Vespa piped up. “We don’t need an answer right away. In fact, we’re not gonna be checking _our_ comms for the next two weeks, so. You got time,” she said gruffly, leaning back in her seat. Vespa grabbed a piece of fried meat from her plate and chewed it. 

“Right,” Juno said.

“And are these all of the details we will be afforded?” Peter asked, his hands folded together the same way Buddy’s were.

“Due to the nature of the mission, unfortunately, I cannot reveal the specifics until we already have a commitment. Your skillset, as far as I understand it anyway, would be a great asset,” Buddy said. “That is, of course, unless you have misdirected us entirely. You are, in fact, a thief, Pete?”

“Well,” Peter said, glancing around the table, “I would not normally say it so plainly, but I suppose I am among _friends_. Yes. I am, primarily, a thief.” he said.

“Wait, are you wearing my watch again?” Juno muttered, and Peter stared at him for a moment.

“I’ve grown quite attached to it,” Peter hissed back, quietly.

“Well, a thief is one of the things we need. And a hacker,” Buddy said, turning to look at Rita, “that is what we want you for, darling.”

“Really?” Rita said, excitement in her eyes. “A top secret, year-long, galaxy-trotting mission and you want _me_ to be the hacker?”

“You would be the best one for the job, Rita. Perhaps in the entire galaxy,” Jet said, and Rita grinned.

“Awwhh, Jet! You could make a gal blush,” Rita said. She was all but vibrating with excitement. “I… will definitely have to think about it, very long and hard,” Rita said, nodding firmly and glancing at Juno.

“Okay, so Peter’s a thief, Rita’s a hacker… Why do you want me? My sharpshooting is still only halfway there, I’m not _exactly_ a criminal. Mostly,” Juno grimaced, “and you know that I _won’t_ do things that I think are wrong.”

“Juno, I hope that you know by now I wouldn’t put you in the position to do what you believe to be the wrong thing. You are _very_ good at solving crime- and who better to commit one than somebody who knows it intimately? The plan is to conduct what will amount to a heist. But I promise, it should not conflict with your morals. You will be great for the job,” Buddy explained.

“Hm,” Juno said. “Okay, well. I’ll think about it.”

“That is all I ask. I will expect a response in two weeks or so, and the mission will commence in four, so you have plenty of time to make arrangements should you need to,” Buddy said. “Now, that is all the business! Please, finish your breakfast, darlings. I am sure after last night, you need to ‘re-fuel’.”

So, the three of them went back to eating. Jet said something innocuous that spurred Rita onto one of her stream-talks, and they all joined in much lighter conversation.

They sat for a while longer after finishing eating, chatting, before they went their separate ways to go finish any last-minute packing they needed to do.

Once at the hotel room, Peter gathered all of his toiletries and packed them so all of the items fit without the bag bursting at the seams completely. It was a feat. Juno, on the other hand, tossed all of his crap haphazardly into his bag, but he had enough room to do so.

Then, Peter, Rita, and Juno spent a little bit of time at the beach in the later afternoon, wanting to get some more swimming in before they had to leave. Rita ended up meeting up with the woman from the night before, Marceline, and spending some time with her before the four of them, together, went to dinner.

Their departure would be very early in the next morning, so after double-checking all of their luggage, Juno and Peter laid down in bed much earlier than they normally would, lights off. Daylight was still streaming in from the sides of the curtains.

“Juno,” Peter said, his head on his pillow as he looked at Juno from behind the glasses he’d forgotten to take off.

“Peter,” Juno said with a little smile, looking over at him. He was lying on his back with his hands on his abdomen.

“Are you- do you think you’ll join the Aurinko’s, on their mission?” Peter asked, and Juno hummed.

“I don’t know. I… I definitely won’t go if Rita isn’t going,” Juno said firmly. “I think she might want to, though,” he said slowly. “And she might not go if I don’t,” Juno sighed, chewed on his lip, staring up at the ceiling. “What about you?”

“I.. do not know, either. I am incredibly flattered that they invited me, and, the chance to work alongside my _idols_ is hard to pass up, but-” Peter pressed his lips together firmly, staring at Juno with intent. Juno looked at him.

“But what, then? You should go,” Juno said, like it was obvious. Peter glanced from Juno’s lips to his eye.

“What about us, Juno?” Peter asked. Juno tilted his head. “They are still under the impression we have been dating this whole time, which is-” Peter couldn’t bring himself to say ‘not true’.

“Oh. Right,” Juno said, glancing away from Peter. He then shifted, to be on his side next to Peter. “I mean,” he muttered. “Speaking of that, you _still_ haven’t accepted my-”

“I will not be accepting creds for this,” Peter told him in no uncertain terms, and Juno’s brows knit together.

“What? Why the hell not?” Juno asked, and Peter sighed.

“I… Juno,” Peter said, not that that explained anything.

“ _Peter_ ,” Juno retorted. He groaned. “You need to _say_ the things on your mind. I can’t exactly read it, dammit.”

Peter just gave him a pinched look. “Anyway,” he said, bypassing Juno’s statement, “the Aurinko’s think we are dating. If we are both going to be working and living with them for a year, we may need to explain some things,” Peter said. He mentally added ‘unless’ to that, his eyes still on Juno’s.

“Yeah, I mean. I guess I can tell them I hired you to date me, though Vespa will have a _field day_ , I’ll never live it down. And, also-”

Juno’s voice was rising, taking on that annoyed tone Peter was secretly fond of, thought it wasn’t _as_ fun when it was directed at him. Peter schooled his expression.

Juno kept going, “You aren’t currently _accepting_ the money I’m supposed to be paying you for the service I hired, anyway, so, maybe we _don’t_ have to tell them,” Juno said. At that, Peter perked up a brow. Peter sat up, pressing his back against the headboard. Juno pushed himself up, too, turning on the light on his bedside table. “Peter, why won’t you let me pay you?”

Peter drew in a deep breath from his nose, turning on his lamp as well. “Come _on_ , Juno. You are the detective, here, aren’t you?”

“Don’t even start with me,” Juno said, sticking his finger out at Peter. Peter just narrowed his eyes at him with a tiny pout. “Just tell me, baby.”

“Do you sincerely wish for me to be _paid for_ , Juno?” Peter asked, his voice portraying just a smidge of potential pain. “Really. We have _hardly_ been abiding by the rules of the contract, first of all- we have never once asked for consent before kissing each other.”

“I mean, you have my implicit and ongoing consent to kiss me. I thought that much was clear! If I didn’t want you to kiss me I’d push your face away, c’mon. Do you think I’ve _violated_ your consent?” he asked, his eye going wide.

“No, not even a bit. Yes, our consent was implicit and ongoing, but that’s not what the contract said,” Peter maintained, and Juno pursed his lips.

“Okay, well, sex was supposed to be out of the parameters of the contract, anyway, so, doesn’t it all fall under that?”

Peter stared at him. “Perhaps. However, the purpose of you paying me was to _fake_ date you, in front of the _other_ people, at the wedding. If you have not noticed, Juno, the vast majority of our time here has been spent _alone_ , or with your best friend who already knows that what’s between us isn’t- real,” Peter’s breath caught on the last word and he looked away. Juno bit his lower lip.

“I mean- it’s not that, it’s- I wouldn’t say,” Juno floundered, and Peter drew his knees into his chest.

“What _would_ you say, Juno? Are we fake dating, for the purposes of your friends? If not- if we are _not_ fake dating, what are we doing?” Peter looked back over at him. “I am asking you honestly. I am not trying to sass,” Peter maintained, voice strained. “I simply don’t know anymore.”

Juno licked his lips and swallowed. “I mean. We’re… I don’t know,” Juno muttered. “Having fun?”

“Ah.” Peter said, looking at the ceiling. “A casual affair, then,” Peter breathed in, nodding. He was familiar with them, though usually it was much more planned on his part. “So not _un_ real, but, not serious. Right,” Peter swallowed. “I still don’t know if I’d like you to _pay_ me, in that case. I’ll confess it was never my intention to allow you, if we ended up spending so much time having sex, anyway. Which is why I waited.”

“Wait, Peter,” Juno said, biting down on his lip, “I mean, I wouldn’t- I wouldn’t call this _casual_ , either,” Juno argued, voice unsure. “I’m not an idiot, I know how much it means that you told me what you did this morning,” Juno reached for Peter, brushing a knuckle on his shoulder tentatively.

Peter just nodded, slowly. “Okay,” he said. “Then, where does this leave us?” Peter asked, lifting his eyes back up to Juno.

“Well,” Juno bit his lip, and then he smiled just a touch. “That’s simple, really,” Juno said, scooting a bit closer. “Wherever we want to be.”

“Juno,” Peter said softly, biting down on his lip to stop from smiling. “Are you planning to tell me where you’d like to be, then?”

Juno breathed in through his nose, nodding. “Is it too soon to say, wherever you are?” he asked. Peter laughed a little, his expression going from vaguely worried to adoring in a split second. 

A beat passed as Peter thought/ “It’s not,” he murmured. “I don’t think it is,” Peter said, eyes and voice filled with emotion. Peter lowered his knees, moving orienting his body towards Juno.

Juno took Peter’s face in his hands and kissed him gently. Peter kissed back, making a happy noise.

“What about you, Peter?” Juno asked, voice soft. “Where do you want to be?”

“Well… you stole my answer,” Peter murmured, glancing down to Juno’s lips. “You’ll make an excellent thief,” he laughed lightly.

Juno just smiled at him, wide. He leaned forward and kissed Peter once more, then hummed. “We should go, then, huh? With Buddy, Jet, and Vespa, I mean.”

“Only if you want to, Juno. I… I can come to Hyperion, if you like. I would need to figure out what to do insofar as _jobs_ , but,” Peter slung his arms around him. “I want to be with you, Juno. Wherever you want to be, truly.”

Juno just smiled at him, and kissed him again, quick but sweet. “I mean. We have a couple weeks to decide. I don’t know if everything in this hotel room is all you have, I guess, but- you can meet me in Hyperion as soon as possible and we can decide from there? Like I said, Rita will probably want to go, and. Well. People have been telling me for years I should consider spending some time away from Mars. Therapists included. Maybe it’s about time."

“I’ll go where you go, Juno,” Peter murmured. Then, he added, “It _would_ be a wonderful opportunity,” he said. Juno kissed him again, pressing closer and tangling his hands in Peter’s hair.

Then, Juno pulled back and took Peter’s glasses from his face and leaned over to put them on the end table. Peter placed a hand on Juno's ass as he leaned over and Juno chuckled. 

Juno climbed back into Peter’s lap and they stated to kiss, then Juno pulled back enough to look Peter up and down slowly, trailing his fingertips up Peter’s abdomen again.

“I know we were supposed to be going to sleep, but… I wanna fuck you,” Juno murmured, and Peter smiled at him.

“I’m sure we can make it quick,” Peter said with a little wink, slipping his hands under Juno’s shirt. Juno chuckled and nodded, grabbing the edge of his shirt and pulling it up over his head, before taking Peter’s off as well.

Peter placed his hands on Juno’s face and leaned in to kiss him, and Juno smiled against his lips and kissed back, biting down on Peter’s lip.

“Hey, so,” Juno started, skimming his fingers from Peter’s shoulder down to his arm. “Does this make you my boyfriend, then?”

“I would say so, detective,” Peter said, and Juno nodded, pressing his lips together to prevent from smiling. "As long as that isn't too juvenile for your tastes." 

“I like boyfriend,” Juno said softly, and then leaned forward to kiss Peter again, then he rolled his hips against Peter’s a few times, ducking his head to Peter’s neck to kiss him, hard, then bite down.

Peter ran his hands over Juno’s sides, caressing every inch of skin slowly. “Oh, Juno,” he sighed as Juno trailed his lips along Peter’s neck down to his collar and to the other side.

“You’re so fucking gorgeous, Peter,” Juno told him, biting just below his ear and making Peter shiver.

All the while, Juno rolled his hips at a languid pace, feeling Peter’s cock harden beneath him as he did. Eventually, Peter ran his hands down to Juno’s ass and pushed his own hips up.

“Mmm, so,” Juno started, slowing his movements so he could get off Peter’s lap. Peter whined and Juno gave him a fake-sad look for a second. “Since we’re dating, now, can we eventually stop using condoms? Like, not _right_ now, obviously,” Juno said, getting up to go back to his bag and pull out one of the condoms and a mini bottle of lube that had been packed away. He stood up and threw it at Peter, who just barely managed to catch the condom, while the lube bounced in front of him.

“Hmm,” Peter thought, and tilted his head, “I see no reason why not. Eventually, anyway. You... can’t get pregnant, right?”

“Nope,” Juno said, popping the ‘p’ as he stood next to the bed and took off his shorts. Peter took the moment to shuffle out of his silky pants, as well. Juno crawled back on the bed. “I just really want to feel you come inside me- you know, eventually,” Juno said, and Peter looked embarrassed for just a split second before nodding.

“Of course, my love. Not tonight, but,” Peter bit down on hip lip, “some day.”

Juno smirked widely and Peter glanced him up and down as Juno grabbed the lube in one hand and traced his fingers up Peter’s thigh slowly, sitting in front of him. “All this sex we’ve had, I’ve still _barely_ given you a handjob,” Juno murmured, and Peter laughed in the back of his throat.

“Well, at least we have _plenty_ of time to explore all of the things we can do together,” Peter purred as Juno squirted out some lube and warmed it for a second before taking Peter’s cock in his hand.

“Hope Buddy’s spacecraft has thick walls,” Juno muttered, and Peter laughed loudly, but it broke off into a groan as Juno squeezed his cock.

“Mhmmm,” Peter said, both as an agreement and as a cover for his moaning as Juno stroked his cock, rubbing his thumb over the head.

Juno swallowed thickly as he watched Peter’s expression, unguarded, his eyes heavily lidded and his mouth partway open. “Fuck, Peter,” Juno murmured, and Peter breathed out, smiling at him for just a second. “I can’t wait to wake up next to you,” Juno said with a sigh.

“That sounds like something I should be saying,” Peter said, and Juno just chuckled.

“Guess you’re rubbing off on me already,” Juno told him, and Peter placed a hand on Juno’s cheek, pulling him closer to kiss him. Juno had to adjust his balance, but he kissed back, and then sighed against Peter’s lips.

As he leaned back, Juno took his hand from Peter’s cock and reached for the condom, ripping it open between his thumbs and fingers. Looking at Peter with hunger in his eyes, Juno rolled the condom on Peter’s cock, and then put one hand on Peter’s shoulder.

“Juno,” Peter muttered, his hand coming up to skim the inside of Juno’s thigh.

“Be quick. I’m sure I’m already soaked for you,” Juno muttered back, and Peter nodded, rubbing his finger between Juno’s folds and pushing two fingers inside of him, pressing his thumb to Juno’s clit. He’d already learned a lot about what Juno liked, but he was eager to learn more, and glad to have the chance to do so.

Peter smiled up, warm and sappy, and decided he should tell Juno so much. “I love your body. I can’t wait to spend my days exploring it, every inch of you,” Peter told him, and Juno shivered. All the while, he thrust his fingers in hard, just how Juno tended to like it.

“God, fuck me,” Juno whined, and Peter nodded, slowing his fingers and pulling them from Juno’s cunt.

“Do you want me to get on top?” Peter asked, and Juno shook his head, placing his hands on Peter’s shoulders and shifting closer to him.

“This is good for now,” Juno told him, and Peter nodded. Juno brought their bodies closer and took Peter’s cock in his hand, carding his body along the length for just a moment before biting his lip and sinking down on him slowly. “Ah, Peter,” Juno whined.

Peter placed his hands on Juno’s hips and bit his lip, waiting for Juno to start moving. Juno swallowed, bringing both his hands to the back of Peter’s neck, before he gave a few experimental thrusts of his hips.

 _“Juno_ ,” Peter mumbled, dropping his lips to Juno’s shoulder and kissing him as Juno started to roll his hips a little more confidently.

“Fuck,” Juno muttered, and Peter squeezed him a little closer, slowly starting to thrust his hips upwards as Juno pressed his hips down harder on his cock.

“You’re so beautiful, Juno,” Peter told him, looking up through his lashes. Juno’s eye was shut tightly, his mouth agape. He was entirely breathtaking.

“Mmm,” Juno just groaned in the back of his throat, tracing a hand up to Peter’s hair and pulling on it gently. Peter pushed his hips up a little harder as Juno did that.

Peter, once again, felt the temptation to tell Juno he loved him, right then and there. He decided against it, given they’d been dating _officially_ for... twenty minutes, give or take? Still, he wanted to. He could settle for doing what he could to impart the idea on Juno with his actions and with other words, for the moment. 

Juno rolled his hips a little quicker and Peter gripped his hips just a bit tighter to get purchase and fuck into him, feeling the heat in his core flare brightly.

“Juno,” Peter groaned, and Juno glanced down at him, panting. “I want you to come for me, dear.”

“Peter,” Juno whined, his hips moving more and more erratically. Peter did his best to keep their pace as Juno pulled tightly on his hair and whined. “Fuck,” Juno groaned, squeezing around Peter’s cock as he shut his eye again and came, hard.

“You’re so beautiful,” Peter murmured again as Juno rode out his orgasm, breathing heavily.

Juno slumped against him and Peter felt his cock twitch. He was so close. Peter eased his grip on Juno’s body, rubbing Juno’s lower back. Juno took a deep breath, taking a pause for another few moments before he started to move again, almost taking Peter by surprised.

“Juno,” Peter bit down on his lip.

“Come for me, baby. Fuck me hard,” Juno mimicked, breathing against his ear.

Peter made a strangled noise in his throat, holding Juno’s hips tightly again as he thrust up into him until he was coming, too.

“Juno, you truly are a Goddess walking Earth,” Peter told him, and Juno just chuckled.

“I know being with me is like heaven, but,” Juno rolled his eye up at the sky.

Peter bit back the urge to tell Juno he loved him again, and just nodded.

“Okay. Quick clean up, and then we need to fucking sleep,” Juno said firmly, and Peter nodded, but then leaned forward to kiss him.

Juno kissed back, still seated on Peter’s lap. Juno laughed as he pulled away for just a second and then rethought it, pressing his lips to Peter’s once more.

“Okay,” Juno said again a few moments later, and he finally lifted himself from Peter’s lap. Peter gave him a sizable pout. “Quit it, with that face,” Juno said, and Peter just wobbled his lip at him, but they both broke into laughter a second later.

Juno pulled on one of the hotel robes and grabbed his clothing before ducking to the bathroom. Peter got rid of the condom and then got dressed again to wait for his turn in the bathroom.

Once they both returned, they climbed back into bed and Peter shut the lights off again.

“Goodnight, Juno,” Peter told him.

“Night,” Juno said, voice soft and sweet as he cuddled up near Peter. Peter shut his eyes.

Eventually, Juno turned around and curled up on his side, so he might have an actual chance at falling asleep. Peter flipped towards the opposite direction.

They were quiet for quite some time, before Juno flipped back over towards Peter and took in a slow breath.

“Baby?” Juno asked, quietly. “Are you awake?”

“Yes, darling,” Peter said, flipping over to face him.

“I can’t sleep,” Juno mumbled. Peter stroked Juno’s cheek with the back of his hand.

“We can keep talking for a _short_ while, if you wish,” Peter said. “Who needs sleep, anyway?” he added with a chuckle.

“I like the way you think,” Juno said with a smirk. “We should probably try harder, but…”

Despite only knowing him for a relatively short while in the grand scheme of things, Peter could hear something in Juno’s voice. He always was good at reading people, of course. It was a main tenant of his job. “Hm? Is there something on your mind, dear detective?”

“Yeah, kinda,” Juno mumbled. Peter nodded. “There’s something I wanna tell you,” Juno said, pushing himself as he looked down at Peter again.

“I am all ears,” Peter said, and then he hummed. A thought crossed his mind, _in for a penny, in for a pound_. “I have something I’d like to tell you, too, actually. But you should go first,” he said.

“Wait, what is it?” Juno asked, and Peter narrowed his eyes. There wasn’t much light streaming from behind the curtains, as the sun had actually gone down, so he could only make out Juno’s silhouette. Peter reached over flicked the lamp back on.

Peter propping himself up on his elbows. “I-, well, Juno I wish to tell you my last name, and I will. But, I’d like to hear what you have to say. _Ladies_ first, you know,” Peter winked at him. 

“Oh,” Juno said, smiling softly. “That’s seems big. Okay. Um, it’s… probably too soon to say this. We just agreed that we were dating, for real, like.. an hour ago. But,” Juno sucked in his breath, looking back up, “I think I’m falling in love with you.”

“Oh,” Peter said, his eyes going wide. “Dear,” he breathed. Juno glanced down again. “Nureyev,” Peter said quickly, “my last name is Nureyev. And, in that case, I have something else I’d like to tell you, Juno.”

“Peter Nureyev, huh?” Juno said, and he leaned over to kiss him. Peter’s heart could burst just hearing Juno say that name. Peter smiled and kissed him back, lifting a hand to Juno’s neck. “Whattaya wanna tell me, Nureyev?” Juno asked, his face just inches from Peter’s as he leaned over him. He saw Peter look from his eyes, to his mouth, and back again.

“I am certain I’m falling in love with you,” Peter said, firm and serious. Juno smiled slowly, and softly.

“You just _have_ to one-up me, huh?” Juno asked, and Peter laughed.

“I’m just being truthful, Juno,” Peter told him, and then kissed him again. “I’ve known this since.. well.. since we met in that café.”

“No way,” Juno said, scoffing. “You fell in love with me _instantly_?”

“Just about,” Peter insisted. “Well, fine. It wasn’t _so_ clear, not until your friend Mick’s wedding, but. Our first meeting was when the seed was planted. Genuinely,” he said, and Juno nodded.

“Yeah,” Juno murmured. “I guess that’s fair. I remember- there was a specific moment, not that I _fell in love_ in that moment, but… something you said stuck out to me. When you asked me if I still believed in love, after Diamond left me? In hindsight, at Mick’s wedding, I wanted to tell you that I might still. Even for myself.”

Peter smiled at that, remembering the moment. It was a good line, from Duke Rose. He was quiet, for a moment, then he said, “For what it’s worth, Juno, I am sorry, that I so nearly let you slip through my fingers over nothing but a _job_.”

“Eh,” Juno shrugged, “it would have been stupid to leave a job for a lady you met a couple times. I’m.. glad I asked you here, though. I really wasn’t sure what you’d say, when I messaged you.”

“I’m glad you did as well,” Peter pressed his nose to Juno’s cheek. Juno turned to kiss him, and Peter hummed. A few moments later, Peter said, “Well, my love, with that all settled… we _should_ probably try to sleep, after all.”

“But I wanna talk, and keep kissing you,” Juno whined, and Peter laughed, kissing him just as he’d asked. “And I’m definitely not horny again or anything,” Juno muttered, and Peter bit his lip.

“I know, darling. The flight _is_ drawing ever nearer, though,” Peter said, hand trailing up Juno’s side.

Juno heaved a loud sigh.

“Besides. We have plenty of time together, Juno. I _do_ have some things I should attend to but it won't be long before I will meet you in Hyperion, and then we have a year-long heist to go on with some career criminals. All the while, we will have one another.”

Juno smiled, thinking. “God. It’s gonna be real fun, explaining all this to my brother.”

“Do you think he’ll even be surprised?”

“Probably not. He said he was sure you, quote, ‘liked me, for real though’. And- well, before this week I wasn’t _so_ certain.”

“Have I convinced you, now?” Peter asked, “I can tell you again, if you like.”

“I mean, I’m not opposed to you telling me how much you like me. Though I’ll probably still act like I am, not gonna lie,” Juno told him, and Peter laughed.

“Sounds like the detective I know and- tolerate,” Peter said, and Juno gasped and then laughed.

“Tolerate?”

“Mhmm,” Peter said, and they both laughed again. “Juno… we need to sleep,” Peter reminded him.

“Ugh _fine_. What happened to ‘who needs sleep’?” Juno said, but he finally laid back down properly, and so did Peter.

“I am full of inherent contradictions, and, _occasionally,_ I change my mind. As well, I am certain that if we do not stop now, we will most definitely stay up all night talking about our dreams and innermost secrets. As much as I adore that idea, terrifying as it may also be, we can do that another night when we don’t have to travel early in the morning.”

“Fine,” Juno said with a loud groan.

“Goodnight, my love,” Peter said with finality, turning and shutting off the lamp again.

Juno just chuckled. “G’night, baby,” he said sweetly, and he pressed closer to Peter. 

In the dark, they found each other once more, kissing, before they fell asleep with their hands intertwined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all, folks!!!! I hope you enjoy! This fic is one of my babies so if you liked it please consider commenting or leaving kudos <3


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